2006 (Preliminary) Multifactor Productivity Trends — 2007-05-24

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today the change in preliminary multifactor productivity in 2006 for the private business and private nonfarm business sectors. The estimated annual rate of multifactor productivity change from 2005 to 2006 was: The estimates of multifactor productivity in the private business and in the private nonfarm business sectors for 2006 both show the slowest annual rates of growth since 2001. The 2005-06 annual changes are summarized in tables A and B, table B also presents data showing historical trends. Multifactor productivity growth is designed to measure the joint influences of economic growth on technological change, efficiency improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other factors, allowing for the effects of capital and labor.