2022 First Quarter (Revised) Productivity and Costs — 2022-06-02

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 7.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output decreased 2.3 percent and hours worked increased 5.4 percent. This is the largest decline in quarterly productivity since the third quarter of 1947, when the measure decreased 11.7 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) From the same quarter a year ago, nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 0.6 percent, reflecting a 4.2-percent increase in output that was outpaced by a 4.8-percent increase in hours worked. (See table A1.) This is the largest four-quarter decline since the fourth quarter of 1993, when the measure also declined 0.6 percent. Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 12.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022, reflecting a 4.4-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 7.3-percent decrease in productivity.