Manufacturing Productivity Rises 1.1% In Third Quarter

Jan. 13, 2005
By John S. McClenahen Although it pales in comparison to the quarterly gains posted during 1999 and 2000, productivity in U.S. manufacturing rose 1.1% in this year's July-to-September calendar quarter. That's fractionally better than the U.S. Bureau of ...
ByJohn S. McClenahen Although it pales in comparison to the quarterly gains posted during 1999 and 2000, productivity in U.S. manufacturing rose 1.1% in this year's July-to-September calendar quarter. That's fractionally better than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) now-revised 0.9% productivity gain for 2001's April-to-June quarter. The BLS measures manufacturing productivity by comparing output with hours worked. And in numbers adjusted for the events of Sept. 11, the 6.7% decline in U.S. manufacturing output in the third quarter was less steep than the 7.7% decline in the hours people worked. Delving deeper into the data, productivity among automakers and other producers of durable goods rose 2.5% in the third quarter of this year as a 10% decrease in work hours outpaced a 7.7% decline in output. However, the reverse situation prevailed among makers of nondurable goods, with productivity falling 1.3% as output dropped 5.4% and hours worked decreased 4.1%. Among all U.S. manufacturers -- durable-goods producers as well as makers of nondurables -- output now has fallen for four consecutive calendars and hours worked have declined for five quarters.

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