Productivity And Costs — 1994-11-09

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 1994. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were: 3.1 percent in the business sector, and 2.7 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both the business and the nonfarm business sectors, productivity increased in the third quarter after having fallen in the second quarter. 5.3 percent in manufacturing, 6.4 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 3.3 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The third-quarter increase in productivity in the manufacturing sector was slightly lower than that recorded in the second quarter. In the nondurable goods sector, third-quarter growth was less than half what it had been in the previous quarter. In the larger durable goods sector, however, productivity growth accelerated in the third quarter. Manufacturing includes nearly 20 percent of U.S. business sector employment.