Productivity And Costs — 1996-08-14

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported preliminary productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the second quarter of 1996. The preliminary seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were: 0.5 percent in the business sector, and -0.1 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In the business sector, productivity growth in the second quarter was slower than in the first quarter, when it rose 2.0 percent (as revised). In the nonfarm business sector, productivity fell in the second quarter after posting an increase of 1.8 percent one quarter earlier. 1.5 percent in manufacturing, 3.1 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and -0.1 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The second-quarter increase in manufacturing productivity was the smallest since the second quarter of 1993. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 18 percent of U.S.