Productivity And Costs — 1994-12-07

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 third quarter of 1994. The seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were: 3.5 percent in the business sector, and 2.9 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both the business and the nonfarm business sectors, productivity increases in the third quarter followed second-quarter declines. Although output in both sectors increased faster in the third quarter than in the second, the increase in hours of all persons slowed substantially. 3.6 percent in manufacturing, 5.0 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 1.4 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The third-quarter increase in productivity in the manufacturing sector was lower than that recorded in the second quarter. In the nondurable goods sector, third-quarter productivity and output increases were significantly slower than they had been in the previous quarter.