Material Is Embargoed — 1998-03-10

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised fourth-quarter seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change--as measured by output per hour of all persons--and revised annual changes for the full year 1997. In the fourth quarter, productivity rose in both the business and nonfarm business sectors by less than it had in the previous quarter. Percent changes in business and nonfarm business productivity were: For the year 1997, productivity increases in both sectors were about the same as the 1996 increases. Fourth-quarter productivity and related measures are summarized in table A and appear in detail in tables 1 through 5; the preliminary and revised fourth-quarter and annual data appear in table C. Manufacturing productivity rose at a 4.3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter as output growth accelerated to 8.2 percent and hours of all persons grew 3.8 percent (table A).