2020 Total Factor Productivity for Major Industries — 2021-11-18

Total factor productivity (TFP) declined in 16 out of 21 major industries measured in 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. These negative TFP trends were largely due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As with the Great Recession, the decline in TFP growth was widespread across the economy but more severe in 2020 compared to 2008-09. In 2020, the largest industry declines were in arts, entertainment, and recreation (-17.9 percent) and educational services (-10.9 percent), while the largest TFP decline during the Great Recession was in the finance and insurance industry (-5.5 percent). (See table 1). The TFP declines in 2020 were primarily due to declines in real output outpacing declines in the combined inputs of capital, labor, energy, materials, and purchased business services.