Productivity And Costs — 1996-11-07

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 1996. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were: 0.3 percent in the business sector, and 0.2 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both the business and the nonfarm business sectors, productivity increases in the third quarter were smaller than those recorded in the second quarter (as revised). 6.3 percent in manufacturing, 8.2 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 3.7 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The 6.3 percent rise in manufacturing productivity was the largest recorded since the first quarter of 1994. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 18 percent of U.S. business sector employment, tend to vary more from quarter to quarter than data for the more aggregate business and nonfarm business sectors.