Material Is Embargoed — 1998-06-04

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the first quarter of 1998. The revised seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the first quarter were: 1.7 percent in the business sector, and 1.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, the revised first-quarter gains in output were larger than those reported initially, and the gains in hours were slightly lower. The revisions increased the first-quarter 1998 productivity gains, making them similar to those of the fourth quarter of 1997. 0.7 percent in manufacturing, 0.4 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 1.2 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The revised gain in manufacturing productivity in the first quarter of 1998 was still the smallest since the third quarter of 1993, when productivity fell 0.1 percent. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 18 percent of U.S.