Productivity And Costs — 1995-09-07

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 second quarter of 1995. The revised seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were: 4.7 percent in the business sector, and 4.8 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, productivity rose from the first to the second quarter as output grew while hours of all persons employed fell. 2.6 percent in manufacturing, 0.7 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 5.3 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. The productivity advance in manufacturing reflected a decrease in output combined with a larger decrease in the hours of all persons. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 20 percent of U.S. business-sector employment, tend to vary more from quarter to quarter than in the more aggregate business and nonfarm business sectors.