Productivity gains in the third quarter of 2010

November 08, 2010

During the third quarter of 2010, nonfarm business sector labor productivity—as measured by output per hour—increased at a 1.9-percent annual rate, as output increased 3.0 percent and hours worked increased 1.1 percent. Manufacturing sector productivity rose 0.4 percent in the third quarter of 2010, as output grew 4.0 percent and hours worked increased 3.6 percent.

[Chart data]

Over the last four quarters, nonfarm business sector productivity increased 2.5 percent, as output rose 4.1 percent and hours worked rose 1.6 percent.

Manufacturing productivity increased 3.9 percent over the last four quarters, as output rose 7.0 percent and hours worked increased 3.0 percent.

In the third quarter of 2010, productivity declined 0.8 percent in the durable goods manufacturing sector, as output grew more slowly than hours worked; productivity in nondurable goods industries increased 2.9 percent, as output rose 2.2 percent while hours worked fell 0.7 percent.

These data are from the Productivity and Costs program and are subject to revision. For more information, see "Productivity and Costs: Third Quarter 2010, Preliminary" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-1518.