2013 Multifactor Productivity Trends for Detailed Industries — 2015-09-29

Multifactor productivity - defined as output per unit of combined inputs - rose in 38 of the 86 4-digit NAICS manufacturing industries in 2013, as well as in the two transportation industries that are measured, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was up from 2012, when multifactor productivity increased in 35 manufacturing and in the two transportation industries. Multifactor productivity indexes relate the change in real output to the change in the combined inputs of labor, capital, and intermediate purchases consumed in producing that output. Multifactor productivity growth measures the extent to which output growth exceeds the growth in inputs. A variety of factors that influence economic growth are not specifically accounted for among measured inputs, including: technological change, returns to scale, enhancements in managerial and staff skills, changes in the organization of production, and other efficiency improvements. Multifactor productivity reflects these factors.