THE PRIMARY SOURCE
Read the release
Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.
Third Quarter 2000
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported revised productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the third quarter of 2000. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity growth in the third quarter were:
2.8 percent in the business sector, and 3.3 percent in the nonfarm business sector.
The increases in labor productivity for the business and nonfarm business sectors are the result of increases in output combined with small declines in the hours of all persons working in the sector.
In manufacturing, revised productivity increases in the third quarter were: 7.3 percent in manufacturing, 11.2 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 1.7 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing.
The third-quarter productivity increase in manufacturing occurred as output rose 4.1 percent and hours of all persons working in the sector dropped 2.9 percent. Output and hours in manufacturing, which includes about 17 percent of U.S. business sector employment, tend to vary more from quarter to quarter than data for the more aggregate business and nonfarm business sectors. Third-quarter measures are summarized in table A and appear in detail in tables 1 through 5.
The data sources and methods used in the preparation of the manufacturing series differ from those used in preparing the business and nonfarm business series, and these measures are not directly comparable. Output measures for business and nonfarm business are based on measures of gross domestic product prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Quarterly output measures for manufacturing reflect indexes of industrial production independently prepared by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See Technical Notes for further information on data sources.
Nonfinancial corporate measures were revised beginning with the first quarter of 1997.
Business
From the second quarter to the third quarter of 2000, business sector productivity rose at an annual rate of 2.8 percent, as output increased 2.6 percent and hours of all persons engaged in the sector decreased 0.2 percent (table 1). The drop in hours was due to a 1.3-percent decline in average weekly hours at work; business sector employment rose 1.1 percent in the third quarter (seasonally adjusted annual rates).
Hourly compensation increased 5.7 percent during the third quarter of 2000. This measure includes wages and salaries, supplements, employer contributions to employee benefit plans, and taxes. Real hourly compensation, which takes into account changes in consumer prices, rose 2.6 percent in the third quarter of 2000.
Unit labor costs increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent during the third quarter of 2000. The implicit price deflator for the business sector, which reflects changes both in unit labor costs and in unit nonlabor payments, increased at a 1.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter of 2000, after rising 2.4 percent in the previous quarter.
Nonfarm business
Output per hour of all persons in the nonfarm business sector increased 3.3 percent during the third quarter of 2000, after rising 6.1 percent in the second quarter (table 2). Output increased 2.5 percent and hours of all persons declined 0.8 percent in the third quarter of 2000. This was the largest decline in nonfarm business hours since the first quarter of 1992, when hours fell 2.3 percent. As in the larger business sector, the hours decline was due entirely to a drop in average weekly hours at work (1.6 percent) as employment increased during the quarter (0.9 percent).
Hourly compensation grew at a 6.3 percent annual rate in the third quarter of 2000, faster than at any time since the first quarter of 1992 (when it rose 8.8 percent). When the rise in consumer prices is taken into account, real hourly compensation rose at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the third quarter.
Unit labor costs rose 2.9 percent in the third quarter of 2000. The implicit price deflator for nonfarm business rose 1.9 percent, reflecting the increase in unit labor costs as well as a 0.3-percent increase in unit nonlabor payments. In the second quarter, the implicit price deflator rose 2.0 percent, reflecting a 0.2-percent decline in unit labor costs and a 5.7 percent increase in unit nonlabor payments.
Manufacturing
Productivity increased 7.3 percent in manufacturing in the third quarter of 2000, as output rose 4.1 percent and hours of all persons fell 2.9 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates). In durable goods industries, productivity grew 11.2 percent in the third quarter, reflecting a 7.6-percent increase in output and a drop of 3.2 percent in hours. In the nondurable goods industries, third-quarter productivity increased 1.7 percent as output and hours both declined, 0.8 and 2.5 percent, respectively (tables 3, 4, and 5).
Hourly compensation of all manufacturing workers rose 6.5 percent during the third quarter of 2000. Hourly compensation increased more slowly in durable goods manufacturing (5.8 percent) than in nondurable goods manufacturing (7.8 percent). When the increase in consumer prices is taken into account, real hourly compensation for all manufacturing workers rose 3.4 percent in the third quarter.
Unit labor costs in manufacturing declined 0.7 percent in the third quarter of 2000. The drop in unit labor costs occurred entirely in the durable goods portion of manufacturing, where they fell 4.8 percent. In nondurable goods manufacturing, unit labor costs in the third quarter rose 6.0 percent.
Nonfinancial Corporations
Third-quarter 2000 measures of productivity and costs also were announced for nonfinancial corporations (tables B and 6). Output per all-employee hour rose at a 4.9 percent annual rate, compared with a 5.4 percent increase (as revised) in the previous quarter. Output grew 4.7 percent in the third quarter of 2000, while hours of all employees declined 0.2 percent. The decline in hours was the largest decrease since the first quarter of 1992, when they fell 1.2 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates). The sector includes all corporations doing business in the United States, except those classified as depository institutions, nondepository institutions, security and commodity brokers, insurance carriers, regulated investment offices, small business investment offices, and real estate investment trusts.
Hourly compensation increased 6.1 percent in the third quarter, the same as in the previous quarter. When the rise in consumer prices is taken into account, real hourly compensation increased 2.9 percent in the third quarter and 2.3 percent in the second.
Unit labor costs for nonfinancial corporations increased 1.1 percent in the third quarter, and unit nonlabor costs rose 2.6 percent. Unit profits, on the other hand, declined at a 5.6 percent annual rate during the third quarter. The implicit price deflator for the output of nonfinancial corporations rose 0.6 percent in the third quarter of 2000. In the previous quarter, it had risen 2.4 percent.
Revised Measures
Current and previous measures for the third quarter of 2000 for the business, nonfarm business, and manufacturing sectors are compared in table C. In the business and nonfarm business sectors, increases in productivity and output are smaller than those reported on Nov. 2, based on the information available at that time. Unit labor cost measures for these sectors are correspondingly higher. Productivity and output were revised up in the manufacturing sector; unit labor costs now show a slight decline rather than a small increase.
On Nov. 29, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, revised the price indexes used to calculate real output of nonfinancial corporations back to the first quarter of 1997. Appendix table 1 shows revised 1997 measures for nonfinancial corporations.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Original release Dec 6, 2000.
Archived Nov 11, 2026. Source reuse policy. Formatting has been adapted for reading; the source’s conclusions remain attributed to its publisher.