US Productivity and Costs

Data Employment Macro

Source: BLS
Source Link: https://www.bls.gov/
Frequency: Quarterly
Next Release(s): May 7th, 2026 8:30 AM

Link to historical releases

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Source
Nonfarm business labor productivity increased +2.8% QoQ (SAAR) and +2.8% YoY in Q4 2025 as output rose while hours worked declined, highlighting efficiency gains alongside rising compensation and unit labor costs.
- Nonfarm business productivity rose +2.8% QoQ (SAAR) in Q4 2025 as output increased +2.6% QoQ and hours worked declined -0.2% QoQ, indicating that productivity gains were driven by output growth occurring alongside a small decline in labor input.
- Hourly compensation increased +5.7% QoQ and +4.1% YoY, while real hourly compensation rose +3.1% QoQ and +1.3% YoY, showing nominal wage growth remained strong with more moderate real gains after adjusting for inflation.
- Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased +2.8% QoQ and +1.3% YoY, reflecting rising hourly compensation that was partially offset by the increase in productivity.
- The labor share of income was 53.8% in Q4 2025, the lowest level in the series dating back to 1947, indicating a smaller portion of output accruing to workers as compensation.
- Manufacturing productivity declined -1.9% QoQ as output fell -2.2% QoQ and hours worked declined -0.3% QoQ, showing reduced factory efficiency during the quarter.
- Durable manufacturing productivity fell -3.0% QoQ as output decreased -2.3% and hours worked increased +0.7%, while nondurable manufacturing productivity edged down -0.2% QoQ as both output (-2.1%) and hours (-2.0%) declined.
- Manufacturing unit labor costs rose sharply +8.3% QoQ, the largest increase since Q3 2022, as hourly compensation increased +6.2% while productivity declined.
- On an annual basis, nonfarm business productivity increased +2.2% in 2025 as output rose +2.6% and hours worked increased +0.4%, while manufacturing productivity increased +2.0% for the year, the strongest annual gain in the sector since 2010.
Source
Nonfarm business labor productivity rose +4.9% QoQ in Q3 2025, unchanged after revisions alongside strong output growth.
- The revised nonfarm business figures were unchanged from the prior release, with productivity at +4.9% QoQ, output at +5.4% QoQ, hours worked at +0.5% QoQ, and unit labor costs at -1.9% QoQ, indicating no headline revision.
- Business sector productivity also remained unchanged at +5.0% QoQ, with output +5.5% QoQ and hours +0.5% QoQ, while unit labor costs were revised slightly lower to -2.1% QoQ (prior: -2.0% QoQ).
- Nonfinancial corporate productivity was revised up to +3.3% QoQ from +3.0%, alongside higher revised output growth of +4.0% QoQ (prior: +3.7% QoQ), while unit labor costs were revised down to +0.3% QoQ (prior: +0.6% QoQ).
- Manufacturing productivity was revised up to +3.7% QoQ from +3.3%, with output revised higher to +3.0% QoQ (prior: +2.6% QoQ), while unit labor costs were revised lower to +1.1% QoQ (prior: +1.5% QoQ).
- Durable manufacturing productivity saw a notable upward revision to +5.4% QoQ from +4.7%, with output revised to +3.6% QoQ (prior: +3.0% QoQ) and unit labor costs revised down to 0.0% QoQ (prior: +0.6% QoQ).
- Nondurable manufacturing productivity was revised slightly higher to +1.3% QoQ from +1.2%, with unit labor costs revised marginally lower to +2.7% QoQ (prior: +2.8% QoQ), indicating small upward efficiency adjustments.
Source
Nonfarm business labor productivity rose +4.9% QoQ and +1.9% YoY in Q3 2025, reflecting strong output growth vs modest gains in hours worked.
- Output increased +5.4% QoQ while hours worked rose +0.5% QoQ, indicating that productivity gains were driven primarily by faster output growth.
- Unit labor costs fell -1.9% QoQ as hourly compensation rose +2.9% but was more than offset by the productivity increase; unit labor costs were still up +1.2% YoY.
- Real hourly compensation declined -0.2% QoQ but increased +0.3% YoY, showing a short-term pullback alongside modest annual growth.
- Manufacturing productivity rose +3.3% QoQ (+2.3% YoY), supported by a +2.6% QoQ increase in output and a -0.7% QoQ decline in hours worked.
- Durable manufacturing productivity increased +4.7% QoQ, while nondurable manufacturing rose +1.2% QoQ, highlighting stronger efficiency gains in durables.
- Manufacturing unit labor costs increased +1.5% QoQ and +1.3% YoY, with nondurable goods showing a larger +2.8% QoQ rise compared with +0.6% in durable goods.
US labor productivity increased at a quarterly annualized rate of 3.3% in Q2 2025, revised up from the preliminary estimate of 2.4% as output growth was revised up and hours worked growth was revised down.
- Output growth was 4.4% (revised up from 3.7%) and hours worked growth was 1.1% (revised down from 1.3%).
- Manufacturing productivity growth was 2.5% (revised up sharply from 1.6%) as output growth saw a strong upward revision to 2.4% (from 0.9%).
- Unit labor cost growth was 1.0% (revised down from 1.6%) and was up 2.5% YoY (revised down from 2.6% YoY).
- Hourly compensation grew 4.3% (revised up from 4.0%) with business hourly compensation growth at 4.6% and manufacturing hourly compensation growth at 4.5%.
US labor productivity rose +2.4% QoQ and +1.3% YoY in Q2 2025, as output growth outpaced hours worked, indicating improved efficiency across nonfarm businesses.
- Output increased +3.7% QoQ, while hours worked rose +1.3%.
- Hourly compensation rose +4.0% QoQ (+3.9% YoY), lifting real hourly compensation by +2.3% QoQ.
- Unit labor costs increased +1.6% QoQ and +2.6% YoY, the highest since Q1 2024.
- Manufacturing productivity rose +2.1% QoQ, led by durable goods (+3.3%), while nondurable productivity grew just +1.2%.
- Nondurable manufacturing unit labor costs surged +3.8% QoQ, the steepest gain among tracked sectors.
US nonfarm business productivity fell -1.5% QoQ annualized in Q1 2025 (revised up from -0.8% QoQ annualized), the first decline since Q2 2022, as output decreased -0.2% and hours worked rose +1.3%.
- Unit labor costs surged +6.6% QoQ, driven by a +5.0% rise in hourly compensation and the drop in productivity; +1.9% YoY.
- Real hourly compensation rose +1.2% QoQ and +0.5% YoY.
- Manufacturing productivity rose +4.4% QoQ (output +4.8%, hours +0.4%), led by durable goods (+7.2%); +1.4% YoY.
- Manufacturing unit labor costs rose +2.0% QoQ (+6.4% compensation vs +4.4% productivity); +0.3% YoY.
- Nonfinancial corporate sector productivity fell -1.2% QoQ but was up +2.0% YoY.
US labor productivity fell at a quarterly annualized rate of -0.8% in Q1 2025, the first decline since Q2 2022 and mostly in line with expectations of a -0.7% decline.
- Total output fell at a -0.3% rate while hours worked increased at a 0.6% rate.
- On an annual basis, productivity was up 1.4% YoY with output up 2.2% YoY and hours worked up 0.8% YoY.
- Hourly compensation increased at a quarterly annualized rate of 4.8% which means that unit labor costs surged in Q1 2025, up at an annualized rate of 5.7% (vs 5.1% expected), the strongest increase since Q1 2024.
- While overall nonfarm business productivity declined, manufacturing productivity increased at a quarterly annualized rate of 4.5% as output grew 5.1% and hours worked was up 0.5%.
- Manufacturing unit labor costs increased at a 1.6% annualized rate and were up 0.7% YoY.
US labor productivity in Q4 2024 was revised up from an quarterly annualized rate of 1.2% in the initial estimate to 1.5%.
- On an annual basis, productivity was up 2.0% YoY to end 2024, the lowest since Q2 2023.
- The output growth rate saw a slight upward revision of 0.1 ppts to 2.4% while the hours worked rate was revised down -0.2 ppts to 0.8%.
- Unit labor costs growth saw a sharp -0.8 ppts revision to 2.2% as hourly compensation growth was revised down -0.4 ppts to 3.8%.
- Manufacturing productivity was revised down -0.5 ppts to 0.3% as output growth was revised down to -1.3% and hours worked growth was revised up to -1.6%.
- Manufacturing unit labor costs growth was revised up 0.4 ppts to 3.7%.
US labor productivity increased at an annual rate of 1.2% in Q4 2024, slightly below expectations of a 1.4% YoY increase, and 1.6% YoY, down from 2.1% YoY in Q3.
- Output increased at a 2.3% rate in Q4 while hours worked were up just 1.0%.
- With hourly compensation increasing at a 4.2% rate in Q4, unit labor costs saw a sizeable increase of 3.0%, though this was slower than the 3.4% expected.
- Manufacturing productivity saw a smaller gain of 0.8% as the decline in output of -1.0% was offset by a larger -1.8% decline in hours worked.
- On an annual basis, unit labor cost growth accelerated to 2.7% YoY in Q4 from a more moderate expansion of 2.2% YoY in Q3.
- For the full year 2024, labor productivity increased 2.3% and unit labor costs were up 2.6%. Both are faster than the rates for 2023.
- Manufacturing productivity grew for the first time since 2021 at 0.3% but both output and hours worked were negative. Manufacturing unit labor cost growth moderated to the slowest since 2023 at 3.1%.