For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, May 18, 2016
PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY: SELECTED SERVICE-PROVIDING INDUSTRIES, 2015
Labor productivity rose in 15 of 28 selected service-providing industries in 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was fewer than in 2014, when labor productivity increased in 20 of 28 industries. In 2015 output increased in fewer industries than in 2014, while hours worked increased in more industries than in 2014.
Unit labor costs declined in 10 industries in 2015. Each of the industries with declines in unit labor costs also recorded increases in productivity. Increases in labor productivity counter the impact of rising hourly compensation on unit labor costs facing employers. Productivity and cost measures are published in this release for the first time for amusement parks and arcades, and for specialized freight trucking.
Chart 1 shows the selected service-providing industries with the largest changes in productivity in 2015. Industries above the diagonal line had growth in output greater than growth in hours worked, resulting in positive productivity growth. In contrast, industries below the diagonal line exhibited declining productivity as hours worked increased and, in most cases, output declined.
Trends in Labor Productivity in 2015
• Labor productivity increased in 15 of 28 industries in 2015. (See chart 2.) Among those with increasing productivity, output grew in all but two. Hours worked declined in 9 of the 28 industries.
• Productivity gains of at least 8.0 percent occurred in two industries where output increases coincided with declines in hours worked: wireless telecommunications carriers (26.5 percent) and amusement parks and arcades (8.0 percent).
• Four industries recorded output gains of at least 3.0 percent but had productivity declines because of larger increases in hours worked: truck, trailer, and RV rental and leasing (-5.6 percent), warehousing and storage (-4.4 percent), software publishers (-4.2 percent), and air transportation (-0.3 percent).
page source http://www.bls.gov/
