Productivity and Costs: Selected Service-Providing and Mining Industries News Release — 2012-05-31

Labor productivity � defined as output per hour � rose in 69 percent of the 52 service-providing and mining industries studied in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was up from 42 percent in 2009. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, declined in 46 percent of the industries in 2010, compared to 35 percent in 2009. Productivity increased in more industries in 2010 than in any year since 2003, while output rose in more industries than in any year since 2007. The number of industries with increases in output and the number of industries with increases in hours both rose in 2010 after declining in 2007, 2008, and 2009. However, declining hours continued to contribute to productivity gains for many industries.