Posted August 10, 2010
Productivity down, but manufacturing up
While the nation's productivity declined during the second quarter, manufacturing productivity grew by 4.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Manufacturing output rose 8.3 percent and hours worked increased 3.6 percent. Durable manufacturing sector productivity increased 11.2 percent as the increase in output outpaced the increase in hours. The reverse was true for nondurable manufacturing industries, where productivity decreased 2.8 percent, given that the increase in hours was larger than the increase in output.
Unit labor costs in manufacturing declined 6.1 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and fell 6.9 percent over the last four quarters. The four-quarter decline was the largest in the series, which begins in the first quarter of 1988.
Total nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 0.9 percent annual rate during the second quarter of 2010, with output and hours rising 2.6 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. The decline in output per hour follows five quarters of strong productivity growth. The second-quarter gain in hours worked was the largest since the first quarter of 2006 when hours rose 4.1 percent. From the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010, both productivity and output increased 3.9 percent; hours were unchanged.
