Thursday, September 04, 2014
Tweet[IWS] BLS: PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS Second Quarter 2014, Revised [4 September 2014]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies-----------------Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor--------------------Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS Second Quarter 2014, Revised [4 September 2014]
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nr0.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/prod2.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
and
Supplemental Files Table of Contents
http://www.bls.gov/web/prod2.supp.toc.htm
Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 2.3 percent annual
rate during the second quarter of 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today, as hours increased 2.6 percent and output increased 5.0
percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally
adjusted annual rates.) From the second quarter of 2013 to the second quarter
of 2014, productivity increased 1.1 percent as output and hours worked rose
3.2 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively. (See table A.)
Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of
real output by an index of hours worked of all persons, including employees,
proprietors, and unpaid family workers. The measures released today were
based on more recent source data than were available for the preliminary
report.
Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses edged down 0.1 percent in the second
quarter of 2014, and increased 1.7 percent over the last four quarters. (See
tables A and 2.)
BLS defines unit labor costs as the ratio of hourly compensation to labor
productivity; increases in hourly compensation tend to increase unit labor
costs and increases in output per hour tend to reduce them.
Manufacturing sector productivity increased 3.3 percent in the second quarter
of 2014, as output increased 6.9 percent and hours worked increased 3.5
percent. The increase in output was the largest since the second quarter of
2010 (11.6 percent). Productivity increased 3.4 percent in the durable goods
sector and increased 4.7 percent in the nondurable goods sector. Over the
last 4 quarters, manufacturing productivity increased 2.1 percent, as output
increased 3.7 percent and hours increased 1.6 percent. Unit labor costs in
manufacturing decreased 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2014 and
increased 0.8 percent from the same quarter a year ago. (See tables A and 3.)
The concepts, sources, and methods used for the manufacturing output series
differ from those used in the business and nonfarm business output series;
these output measures are not directly comparable. See Technical Notes for a
more detailed explanation.
Preliminary second-quarter 2014 measures of productivity and costs were
announced for the nonfinancial corporate sector. Productivity increased 3.1
percent in the second quarter of 2014 as output and hours rose 7.8 percent
and 4.5 percent, respectively. Unit labor costs fell 1.2 percent, as the
1.8 percent gain in hourly compensation was less than the 3.1 percent gain
in productivity. (See tables C and 6.)
Revised measures
The measures released today are based on more recent source data than were
available for the preliminary report. Table B presents previous and revised
productivity and related measures for the major sectors: nonfarm business,
business, and manufacturing. Output data for manufacturing incorporates
revised annual output indexes constructed by BLS using data from the U.S.
Bureau of the Census. Manufacturing measures based on output--including
productivity and unit labor costs--were subject to revision back to the
beginning of the series in 1987. Revised quarterly and annual series for
recent years for all sectors appear in tables 1-6. Revised annual indexes for
the manufacturing sectors for all years appear in appendix tables 1-3. Full
historical annual and quarterly measures can be found on the productivity and
costs home page: www.bls.gov/lpc/#data
AND MORE...including TABLES....
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