2008 Third Quarter (Preliminary) Productivity and Costs — 2008-11-06

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 third quarter of 2008. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were: 1.3 percent in the business sector and 1.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, productivity gains were smaller than in the first two quarters of 2008, and were the result of hours at work falling faster than output. (See table A) . In manufacturing, productivity changes in the third quarter were: -1.0 percent in manufacturing, 3.3 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and -7.3 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. Manufacturing productivity fell for the second consecutive quarter; the third-quarter decline was concentrated in the nondurable goods sector, whereas the second-quarter decrease was due to a drop in durable goods productivity. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 12 percent of U.S.