2020 Third Quarter (Preliminary) Productivity and Costs — 2020-11-05

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output increased 43.5 percent and hours worked increased 36.8 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates, and show what the percent change would be if the quarterly rate continued for four quarters.) The 4.9-percent gain in productivity in the third quarter was the second consecutive large increase in the measure--productivity had increased 10.6 percent in the second quarter of 2020. With the exception of the second quarter, productivity growth in the third quarter of 2020 was the largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2009 (5.7 percent). The two-quarter growth rate observed during the second and third quarters of 2020 (7.7 percent) is the highest rate of productivity growth over two quarters since the third and fourth quarters of 1965 (7.8 percent).