December 29, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Multifactor productivity increases modestly in many manufacturing industries

Multifactor productivity—measured as output per unit of combined labor, capital, and intermediate purchases inputs—increased between 1987 and 1996 in 63 of the 108 industries for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes data. Most of the gains were relatively modest.

Distribution of industries by average annual percent change in multifactor productivity, 1987-96
[Chart data—TXT]

Average annual increases of between 0.1 and 1.0 percent were recorded in 32 industries. In another 21 industries, multifactor productivity rose by between 1.1 and 2.0 percent. Ten industries had productivity growth rates exceeding 2.0 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Industry Productivity program. Data are subject to revision. Additional information is available in "Multifactor Productivity Measures for Three-digit SIC Manufacturing Industries," (PDF 25K), BLS Report 948.

 

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