Productivity and Costs by Industry: Selected Service-Providing Industries News Release — 2015-06-10

Labor productivity - defined as output per hour - rose in 60 percent of the 25 service-providing industries covered in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was equal to 2013, when labor productivity also rose in 60 percent of industries. Output and hours increased in more industries in 2014 than in the previous year. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, declined in 36 percent of the industries. Each of the nine industries with declines in unit labor costs also recorded increases in productivity. Radio and television broadcasting recorded the largest increase in labor productivity in 2014, followed by cable and other subscription programming. The largest decline in productivity was in engineering services.