Industry Productivity

The Industry Productivity program produces annual measures of output per hour, unit labor costs, and related series for a select group of U.S. industries. Indexes and annual percent changes are available by industry for labor productivity (output per hour), output per person, real output, the implicit price deflator for output, labor hours, employment, labor compensation, and unit labor costs. Level data underlying the productivity and cost measures — including nominal value of production, labor compensation, total annual hours, and total annual employment — are also available.

Series are available on an annual basis and are therefore not seasonally adjusted. For most industries, indexes begin in 1987 and annual percent change time-series begin in 1988. The base period for the industry productivity and related indexes is 2002 = 100.

Updates are performed periodically throughout the year as source data become available. Typically, updates are announced through 3 to 4 news releases each year, with each news release covering industries in a different sector or combination of sectors, such that all industries are updated at least once a year.

Reference: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 11, "Industry Productivity Measures" (see: http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch11.htm).