Productivity and Costs: Selected Service-Providing and Mining Industries News Release — 2011-05-26

Labor productivity -- defined as output per hour -- rose in 44 percent of the 52 detailed service- providing and mining industries studied in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was down from 56 percent in 2008 and from 65 percent in 2007. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, declined in 33 percent of the industries in 2009, compared to 31 percent in 2008. Output and hours also rose in fewer industries in 2009 than in the previous two years. Output rose in only 6 of the 52 service-providing and mining industries in 2009, while hours increased in 7. (See table 1.) In over one quarter of the industries studied, output and hours both declined at double- digit rates.