Productivity And Costs By Industry, 2001 — 2003-09-18

Labor productivity--defined as output per hour--rose in 2001 in 55 percent of the 164 industries studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Output rose in 29 percent of the industries, while hours rose in 20 percent. The share of industries with productivity increases in 2001 was significantly smaller than the share during the 1987-2001 period. From 1987 to 2001, labor productivity increased in 93 percent of the industries. Output rose in 87 percent of the industries, while hours rose in 52 percent. The attached tables present industry productivity and related series that are based, for the first time, on the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS. See technical note for information on NAICS conversion, industry coverage, and concepts. More than half of the industries for which BLS maintains data recorded labor productivity gains in 2001, with output per hour increasing in 50 of the 86 manufacturing industries.