Productivity And Costs — 1995-08-08

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 second quarter of 1995. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were: 3.0 percent in the business sector, and 3.0 percent in the nonfarm business sector. In both sectors, productivity and output increased while hours worked fell-- reflecting underlying increases in employment combined with large declines in average weekly hours. 2.1 percent in manufacturing, 0.5 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 4.5 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing. Manufacturing productivity increased in the second quarter of 1995 as both output and hours decreased, with the drop in hours being larger than the drop in output. This pattern also was true for both the durable and nondurable goods subsectors. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 20 percent of U.S.