Productivity And Costs — 1994-08-09

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported preliminary productivity datajas measured by output per hour of all personsjfor the second quarter of 1994. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were: -1.4 percent in the business sector, and -1.2 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, the decline in productivity (the first since first-quarter 1993) reflected the largest gain in hours since 1988; increases in output were smaller in the second quarter than in the first. 3.8 percent in manufacturing, 3.0 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 5.0 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. Manufacturing productivity grew more slowly in the second quarter of 1994 than in the first quarter. Output gains were smaller than in the first quarter, but hours at work of all persons engaged in the sector increased more rapidly. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 20 percent of U.S.