2008 Second Quarter (Preliminary) Productivity and Costs — 2008-08-08

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported preliminary productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the second quarter of 2008. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were: 2.3 percent in the business sector and 2.2 percent in the nonfarm business sector. Productivity gains in both sectors reflected output increases and small declines in hours worked. -1.4 percent in manufacturing, -3.5 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 0.7 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. Productivity in the total manufacturing sector fell 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2008, as both output and hours worked decreased. The decline in productivity was concentrated in the durable goods subsector. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 12 percent of U.S. business-sector employment, tend to vary more from quarter to quarter than data for the aggregate business and nonfarm business sectors.