Productivity And Costs — 2006-06-01

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the first quarter of 2006. The revised seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the first quarter were: 3.9 percent in the business sector and 3.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, the first-quarter productivity gains were larger than the preliminary estimates reported on May 4. 3.8 percent in manufacturing, 3.5 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 3.7 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. Manufacturing productivity growth was slower in the first quarter of 2006 than reported on May 4, reflecting downward revisions to output per hour in both durable goods and nondurable goods industries. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 13 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.