Industry growth patterns: a closer look at output, productivity, and hours worked from 1990 to 2024

This article examines three patterns of output growth—productivity-driven, hours-driven, and balanced growth in productivity and hours worked—in a sample of fast-growing industries. While growth in annual hours worked has slowed at the national level since 2000, many industries have sustained high rates of output growth through rapid gains in productivity. Less often, some industries have expanded by accelerating or maintaining growth in hours worked. Major developments in technologies and business practices are common themes in industries with high productivity growth rates. This article provides an industry-based framework for understanding aggregate output growth in an era of relative labor scarcity. Where does economic growth come from? Major areas of economic research are devoted to studying how to increase it. Economic growth makes it easier to balance the national budget and gives prestige to a nation. It can also improve the average person’s standard of living.1 The U.S.