Labor productivity - defined as output per hour - fell in wholesale trade, but rose in retail trade and in food services and drinking places, in 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Productivity changes were as follows:
-3.3 percent in wholesale trade,
1.5 percent in retail trade, and
1.0 percent in food services and drinking places.
In comparison, labor productivity fell in each of the three sectors overall in 2008. However, both output and hours declined more rapidly in each of the sectors in 2009 than they did in 2008.
Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, declined in retail trade but rose in wholesale trade and food services and drinking places. By comparison, unit labor costs increased in each of the sectors in 2008.
Productivity rose in 2009 in nearly 60 percent of the 50 detailed industries studied. (See table 1.) This was higher than the 36 percent of detailed industries that recorded productivity increases the previous year. In 2009, productivity growth in most industries resulted from declines in hours that more than offset changes in output. Output grew in only 10 of the detailed industries in 2009, while hours declined in 47. In comparison, output grew in 14 industries and hours declined in 30 in 2008. In 2009, only a single industry - farm product raw materials wholesalers - registered productivity growth as a result of increases in both output and hours. Unit labor costs declined in 46 percent of the detailed industries in 2009, compared to 32 percent in 2008.
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