2014 (Preliminary) Multifactor Productivity Trends — 2015-06-23

Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 0.8 percent annual rate in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1, table A.) This 2014 gain reflected a 3.1-percent increase in output and a 2.3-percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor. Capital services grew by 2.1 percent and labor input � which is the combined effect of hours worked and labor composition � grew by 2.4 percent. The 2.1-percent increase in capital services was the largest annual increase since a 2.6-percent increase in 2008. Capital services per hour of all persons continued on a steady decline of 0.1 percent in 2014; the fourth consecutive decline in this measure. (See table 1.) Multifactor productivity measures the change in output relative to the change in capital and labor inputs used to produce that output.