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Table 1. Private business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1948-93 [1]
Table 2. Private nonfarm business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1948-93 [1]
Table 3. Private business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1949-93 [1]
Table 4. Private nonfarm business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1949-93 [1]
Table 5. Real capital input by asset type, 1948-93
Table 6. Private business sector: Real capital input by asset type, 1948-93
Table 7. Private nonfarm business sector: Real capital input by asset type, 1948-93
Historical, technical USDL 95-48
information: (202) 606-5606 For Release: 10:00 AM EST
Media contact: (202) 606-5902 Tuesday, February 14, 1995
MULTIFACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS, 1993
Private Business and Private Nonfarm Business
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor today
reported multifactor productivity data--output per unit of combined labor and
capital inputs--for 1993. BLS multifactor productivity uses chain-weighted
output measures in place of constant 1987 dollar output used in the BLS labor
productivity (output per hour) measures, which are published quarterly on a
more current basis. (See summary of methods beginning on page 8.)
Multifactor productivity changed at the following percentage rates in the
most recent year available:
1992-93
Private business 0.6
Private nonfarm business 0.7
Multifactor productivity increased for the second consecutive year in
1993, but growth slowed to about half the rate of 1992. The 1993 annual
changes are summarized in table A; further detail and historical measures are
shown in tables 1 through 7.
A change in multifactor productivity reflects the difference between the
change in output (production of goods and services) and the change in labor and
capital inputs engaged in the production of the output. Multifactor
productivity does not measure the specific contributions of labor, capital, or
any other factor of production. Instead, it reflects the joint effects of many
factors, including new technology, economies of scale, managerial skill, and
change in the organization of production.
2
Table A. Productivity and related data, percentage changes, 1992-93
Private
Private nonfarm
Item business 1/ business 1/
Productivity:
Multifactor productivity 2/.................. 0.6 0.7
Output per hour of all persons............. 0.7 0.7
Output per unit of capital services....... 0.9 1.1
Output.............................................. 2.9 3.3
Inputs:
Labor input........................................2.4 2.7
Capital services...................................2.0 2.1
Combined units of labor and
capital inputs 3/................................2.3 2.6
Analytic Ratio:
Capital services per hour of
all persons .....................................-0.2 -0.4
1/ Excludes government enterprises.
2/ Output per unit of combined labor and capital inputs.
3/ Labor input index combined with capital service input index, weighted
by labor's and capital's shares of nominal output.
A change in multifactor productivity reflects the change in output that
cannot be accounted for by the change in combined inputs of labor and capital.
In contrast, a change in labor productivity reflects the change in output that
cannot be accounted for by the change in hours of all persons.
Changes in 1993
Private business sector
Multifactor productivity in private business rose 0.6 percent in 1993.
The 1993 gain was less than half the size of the 1992 gain (tables 1 and 3).
While the 2.9 percent increase in output for 1993 was similar to the 1992
increase, combined units of capital and labor advanced at a 2.3 percent rate,
more than twice the 1992 growth rate. Output in 1993 grew faster than in any
year since 1988, but the gain was less than the average gain of the previous
economic expansion (3.9 percent per year for the period 1982-90). Output is
measured as a chained superlative index (Fisher Ideal). This output index is
conceptually consistent with the alternative output indexes produced by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, rather than more
traditional constant dollar output measures.
3
Capital services and especially labor input grew more rapidly in 1993 than
in 1992. Labor input posted a 2.4 percent gain, more than twice the 1992
increase. Unlike 1992, an increase in employment (1.9 percent) accounted for
most of the gain in labor input in 1993, while a slightly longer work week (0.3
percent) and an increase in the composition of labor (0.2 percent) accounted
for the remainder. Capital services advanced 2.0 percent in 1993. Although
capital services increased more rapidly than in 1992, the rate was slow viewed
in historical terms. Among the types of capital investment (equipment,
structures, inventories, residential rental housing, and land), the capital
services of equipment posted the largest gain (tables 5 and 6).
Labor productivity or output per hour worked advanced 0.7 percent in 1993,
its slowest rate since 1989. Capital productivity (the ratio of output to
capital services) increased 0.9 percent. Capital services per hour dropped 0.2
percent in 1993 after 4 years of increases.
Private nonfarm business
Multifactor productivity in private nonfarm business grew 0.7 percent in
1993 (tables 2 and 4). Output increased 3.3 percent, and combined units of
capital and labor inputs rose 2.6 percent. The growth rate of labor input more
than doubled to 2.7 percent. As with the private business sector, the increase
in employment (2.1 percent) largely accounted for the growth in labor input.
The remainder of the increase stemmed from a 0.4 percent rise in the work week
and a 0.2 percent gain in labor composition. Capital services increased 2.1
percent in 1993. Capital services continued to grow slowly by historical
standards. Most components of capital services also posted small gains (tables
5 and 7). The services of equipment accounted for most of the faster growth in
capital services.
In 1993, the 0.7 percent gain in labor productivity was the smallest since
1990. Capital productivity grew slightly faster than in 1992. Capital
services per hour declined 0.4 percent, matching the previous drop in 1988.
Long-term trends
Labor productivity growth (output per hour) differs from multifactor
productivity (output per unit of combined capital and labor inputs) in the
treatment of capital and hours. Labor productivity measures do not explicitly
account for the effects of capital or of shifts in the composition of labor on
output growth. As a result, changes in capital intensity (the capital-hours
ratio) and labor composition can influence labor productivity growth. However,
multifactor productivity (MFP) treats capital as an explicit factor of
production, and shifts in the composition of labor are included in the measures
of labor input. Therefore, changes in capital intensity and labor composition
do not affect measures of MFP. Long-term labor productivity growth can be
viewed as the sum of three components: Multifactor productivity growth, the
contribution of increased capital intensity, and the contribution of shifts in
the composition of the work force.
4
From 1948 to 1993, output per hour grew at an annual rate of 2.4 percent
in private business and 2.1 percent in private nonfarm business (table B). Of
the 2.4 percent growth rate in labor productivity in private business, 1.3
percent can be attributed to increases in multifactor productivity, 0.9 percent
to the contribution of capital intensity, and 0.2 percent to changes in labor
composition. The contribution of capital intensity equals the change in the
capital-hours ratio multiplied by capital's share of total costs. The
contribution of labor composition equals the difference between the growth rate
of labor input and the growth rate of hours multiplied by labor's share of
total costs. Historically, capital's share has been less than one-third of
total costs.
The widely discussed post-1973 productivity slowdown is apparent from the
data in table B. From 1948 to 1973, multifactor productivity grew at an annual
rate of 2.2 percent in private business and 1.9 percent in private nonfarm
business. These rates, combined with the growth rates in the contributions of
capital intensity and labor composition, resulted in labor productivity growth
rates of 3.4 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, in private business and
private nonfarm business.
During the period 1973 to 1979, gains in multifactor productivity slowed
to only 0.5 percent per year in private business. At the same time, the
average annual contribution of capital intensity decreased to 0.7 percent, and
the contribution of labor composition change was zero. Labor productivity,
therefore, increased only 1.2 percent per year from 1973 to 1979. A similar
slowdown occurred in private nonfarm business during the 1973-79 period.
Between 1979 and 1990, multifactor productivity was almost unchanged in
private business and private nonfarm business. Output per hour nevertheless
continued to advance at the same rates as in the 1973-79 period. The
contribution of labor composition increased to 0.3 percent per year in both
sectors, essentially offsetting further declines in multifactor productivity
growth.
By post-1973 standards, labor productivity had relatively rapid gains of
1.5 percent per year during 1990-93 in both sectors. The increase in labor
productivity in private business was the result of a 0.4 percent per year
growth rate in multifactor productivity, a 0.6 percent contribution of capital
intensity, and an unusually large 0.6 percent contribution of labor
composition. Trends in private nonfarm business were virtually identical.
However, productivity measures are strongly cyclical, and the 1990-93 period
was dominated by the recovery from the 1990-91 recession. As a result, the
data for this short period may not be indicative of new underlying trends and
are not strictly comparable to trends in earlier periods.
5
Table B. Compound average annual rates of growth in output per hour of all
persons, the contributions of capital intensity, labor composition, and
multifactor productivity, by major sector, 1948 to 1993
1948- 1948- 1973- 1979- 1990-
Item 1993 1973 1979 1990 1993
1/
Private business 2/
Output per hour of all persons 2.4 3.4 1.2 1.2 1.5
Contribution of capital intensity 3/ 0.9 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.6
Contribution of labor composition 4/ 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.6
Multifactor productivity 5/ 1.3 2.2 0.5 0.2 0.4
Private nonfarm business 2/
Output per hour of all persons 2.1 2.9 1.0 1.0 1.5
Contribution of capital intensity 3/ 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6
Contribution of labor composition 4/ 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.6
Multifactor productivity 5/ 1.1 1.9 0.3 0.0 0.3
Contribution of R&D to
multifactor productivity 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2
1/ Because 1990-93 is not a completed business cycle,
comparison of trends with earlier periods may be misleading.
2/ Excludes government enterprises.
3/ Growth rate in capital services per hour times capital's share
of current dollar costs.
4/ Growth rate of labor input less the growth rate of hours of
all persons times labor's share of current dollar costs.
5/ Output per unit of combined labor and capital inputs.
Note: The sum of multifactor productivity and the contributions of capital
intensity and laborcomposition may not equal labor productivity due to
independent rounding.
Source: Tables 1-2.
6
While MFP reflects many influences, it is generally believed that
technological change is one of the primary contributors. For private nonfarm
business, BLS has now estimated the direct effects of firms' spending on
research and development (R&D) on MFP growth within their own industries.
Because many people associate R&D spending and the resulting technology
improvements with productivity, BLS has not adjusted MFP to exclude the effects
of R&D. Instead, the estimated effects are shown separately (table B). The
contribution of R&D averaged 0.2 percent per year for the entire 1948-93
period. Its contribution slowed to 0.1 percent per year during the 1973-79
period, but it has since returned to the 0.2 annual growth rate of the pre-1973
period.
Summary of Methods
This section describes the major data sources and the procedures used in
deriving BLS multifactor productivity indexes. More detailed information on
methods, limitations, and data sources is provided in BLS Bulletin 2178,
"Trends in Multifactor Productivity, 1948-81."
The multifactor productivity indexes are derived by dividing an output
index by an index of labor input and capital services. The output indexes are
computed as chained superlative indexes (Fisher Ideal indexes) of components of
real output. For the years 1959-93, the output indexes are supplied by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. BLS
adjusts these to eliminate the output of government enterprises. For the years
1948-58, BLS calculated output indexes by applying the Fisher index formula to
data on categories of final expenditures in published tables from the National
Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) produced by BEA. BLS linked these two
indexes at 1959. Since 1983, BLS has used chained superlative indexes
(Tornqvist indexes) to aggregate inputs. BLS has used several data sets to
verify that Tornqvist and Fisher indexes yield results that are empirically
quite similar.
Capital input measures the services derived from the stock of physical
assets. The assets included are fixed business equipment, structures,
inventories, and land. Structures include nonresidential structures and
residential capital which is rented out by profit-making firms or persons.
Financial assets are excluded as are owner-occupied residential structures.
The aggregate capital measures are obtained by (Tornqvist) weighting the
capital stocks for each asset type within each of 53 industries using estimated
rental prices for each asset type. Each rental price reflects the nominal rate
of return to all assets within the industry and rates of economic depreciation
and revaluation for the specific asset; rental prices are adjusted for the
effects of taxes. Data on investments in physical assets and gross product
originating by industry, used in measuring the rental prices, are obtained from
BEA.
7
Labor input is obtained by (Tornqvist) weighting the hours worked by all
persons, classified by education, work experience, and gender, by their shares
of labor compensation. Hours paid of employees are obtained from the Current
Employment Statistics program. The hours at work of proprietors, unpaid family
workers, and farm employees are derived from the Current Population Survey.
The hours of employees are converted to an at-work basis by using the Hours At
Work survey. The growth rate of labor composition is defined as the difference
between the growth rate of weighted labor input and the growth rate of the
hours of all persons. Additional information concerning data sources and
methods of measuring labor composition can be found in BLS Bulletin 2426,
"Labor Composition and U.S. Productivity Growth, 1948-90."
The labor and capital components of the input indexes are combined with
(Tornqvist) weights which represent each component's share of total costs.
Total costs are defined as the value of output (gross product originating) less
a portion of indirect business taxes. Most indirect taxes such as excise taxes
are excluded from costs; however, property and motor vehicle taxes remain in
total costs. The index uses changing weights: the share in each year is
averaged with the preceding year's share.
The stock of Research and Development (R&D) in private nonfarm business is
derived by cumulating constant dollar measures of R&D expenditures and allowing
for depreciation. Current dollar expenditures for privately financed R&D for
the years 1953-93 are obtained from annual issues of Research and Development
in Industry published by the National Science Foundation. Price deflators and
estimates of the rate of depreciation are developed by BLS. Further description
of these data and methods can be found in BLS Bulletin 2331, "The Impact of
Research and Development on Productivity Growth."
Data are presented for the private business and private nonfarm business
sectors. The private business sector, which accounts for about 80 percent of
gross domestic product, includes all of gross domestic product except the
output of general government, government enterprises, non-profit institutions,
the rental value of owner-occupied real estate, and the output of paid
employees of private households. The private nonfarm business sector also
excludes farms, but includes agricultural services.
These multifactor productivity measures describe the relationship between
output in real terms and the labor time and capital services involved in its
production. They do not measure the specific contributions of labor, capital,
or any other factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of
many factors, including new technology, economies of scale, managerial skill,
and change in the organization of production.
8
Notes:
BLS uses current dollar Gross Product Originating (GPO) data to estimate
capital rental prices. Revised current dollar GPO data by industry, and its
components by industry, are now available from BEA for the period 1959-92. For
years prior to 1959, unrevised current dollar GPO data were used. GPO data for
1993 are not yet available. In the absence of 1993 GPO data, the BLS
extrapolated capital asset cost shares so that relative rental prices were
unchanged between 1992 and 1993.
Value added measures of output for manufacturing are not available prior
to 1977. Consequently, multifactor productivity measures for manufacturing
using this output concept are unavailable. Measures of capital and labor
inputs in manufacturing for the years 1948-93 are available upon request. In
addition, manufacturing multifactor productivity, measured as gross output per
combined units of capital, labor, energy, materials, and purchased business
services, is available on request for the years 1948-91.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory-impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897;
TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577.
Table 1. Private business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1948-93 [1]
Indexes 1987=100
Productivity Inputs
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________
Year Output per Output per Multifactor Output Labor Capital Combined units Capital per
hour of all unit of productivity input services of labor and hour of
persons capital [2] [3] [4] [5] capital inputs [6] all persons
1948 35.9 116.5 55.6 25.6 64.1 22.0 46.0 30.8
1949 37.2 113.7 56.4 25.5 61.9 22.5 45.3 32.7
1950 40.5 119.7 60.4 28.1 63.0 23.5 46.5 33.9
1951 42.0 120.7 61.9 29.9 64.9 24.8 48.3 34.8
1952 43.0 118.5 62.4 30.6 64.9 25.8 49.0 36.3
1953 44.6 119.7 63.8 32.0 66.0 26.7 50.1 37.2
1954 45.6 115.8 63.9 31.6 64.2 27.3 49.4 39.4
1955 47.7 121.0 66.8 34.3 66.7 28.3 51.3 39.4
1956 47.9 118.5 66.4 34.9 67.8 29.4 52.5 40.4
1957 49.5 116.9 67.4 35.4 66.9 30.3 52.5 42.3
1958 51.0 112.2 67.8 34.7 63.9 31.0 51.2 45.5
1959 52.6 117.4 70.2 37.2 66.4 31.7 53.0 44.8
1960 53.5 116.0 70.5 37.8 66.7 32.6 53.6 46.1
1961 55.6 115.7 72.1 38.6 65.9 33.4 53.5 48.1
1962 58.3 119.4 74.8 41.1 67.5 34.4 55.0 48.8
1963 60.7 120.7 77.0 43.0 68.0 35.6 55.8 50.3
1964 63.7 123.7 80.1 45.8 69.1 37.0 57.1 51.5
1965 66.0 126.0 82.6 48.9 71.2 38.8 59.2 52.4
1966 68.7 126.7 85.1 52.2 72.8 41.2 61.3 54.2
1967 70.4 122.2 85.4 53.2 72.6 43.5 62.3 57.6
1968 72.9 122.5 87.7 55.8 73.5 45.6 63.7 59.5
1969 73.4 120.4 87.4 57.5 75.4 47.8 65.8 60.9
1970 74.8 115.1 87.2 57.4 74.2 49.8 65.8 65.0
1971 78.0 115.1 90.0 59.6 73.6 51.7 66.2 67.8
1972 80.4 117.9 92.6 63.5 76.1 53.8 68.6 68.2
1973 83.0 120.1 95.3 67.9 78.7 56.6 71.3 69.1
1974 81.8 112.4 92.1 66.9 79.2 59.5 72.6 72.8
1975 84.4 107.1 92.7 66.0 75.7 61.6 71.1 78.8
1976 87.4 111.0 96.2 70.3 77.7 63.4 73.1 78.8
1977 89.1 113.9 98.3 74.5 80.8 65.5 75.8 78.3
1978 89.8 114.9 99.0 78.8 84.9 68.5 79.6 78.1
1979 89.3 112.9 98.3 80.9 87.4 71.6 82.3 79.0
1980 89.1 105.8 96.0 79.9 86.8 75.5 83.2 84.2
1981 90.9 103.3 96.2 82.1 88.0 79.5 85.3 88.0
1982 90.5 96.2 93.3 79.6 86.6 82.7 85.3 94.1
1983 93.1 97.9 95.3 83.3 88.5 85.1 87.4 95.1
1984 95.6 102.2 98.3 90.4 93.7 88.5 92.0 93.5
1985 97.0 101.2 98.8 93.7 95.8 92.6 94.8 95.9
1986 99.6 99.7 99.8 96.7 96.8 97.0 96.8 99.9
1987 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1988 100.9 101.4 100.5 104.3 104.2 102.9 103.8 99.6
1989 101.0 101.3 100.3 107.0 107.2 105.6 106.7 99.7
1990 101.9 99.8 100.0 107.9 107.8 108.2 107.9 102.1
1991 102.9 96.8 99.0 106.5 106.5 110.0 107.5 106.3
1992 105.9 97.9 100.5 109.3 107.5 111.6 108.8 108.1
1993 106.6 98.8 101.1 112.5 110.1 113.8 111.3 107.9
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 2. Private nonfarm business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1948-93 [1]
Indexes 1987=100
Productivity Inputs
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________
Year Output per Output per Multifactor Output Labor Capital Combined units Capital per
hour of all unit of productivity input services of labor and hour of
persons capital [2] [3] [4] [5] capital inputs [6] all persons
1948 41.6 122.9 61.5 24.7 54.2 20.1 40.2 33.8
1949 43.4 120.3 62.8 24.7 51.9 20.6 39.4 36.1
1950 46.3 126.4 66.5 27.2 53.8 21.5 40.9 36.6
1951 47.7 128.8 68.3 29.3 56.3 22.8 43.0 37.1
1952 48.5 126.3 68.2 30.0 57.1 23.7 44.0 38.4
1953 49.4 127.3 68.9 31.3 59.0 24.6 45.5 38.8
1954 50.5 122.8 68.9 30.9 57.2 25.2 44.8 41.2
1955 52.9 128.5 72.0 33.7 59.7 26.2 46.7 41.2
1956 52.7 125.8 71.3 34.4 61.3 27.3 48.2 41.9
1957 54.0 124.1 72.0 35.0 61.2 28.2 48.6 43.5
1958 55.4 118.9 72.2 34.3 58.5 28.8 47.4 46.6
1959 57.1 124.8 74.8 36.9 61.1 29.5 49.3 45.8
1960 57.7 122.6 74.9 37.4 61.4 30.5 49.9 47.0
1961 59.7 122.2 76.1 38.2 61.1 31.2 50.1 48.8
1962 62.5 126.4 78.9 40.8 63.1 32.3 51.8 49.4
1963 64.7 127.6 81.0 42.7 63.8 33.5 52.7 50.7
1964 67.6 131.0 84.1 45.6 65.3 34.8 54.3 51.6
1965 69.7 133.1 86.4 48.8 67.6 36.7 56.5 52.3
1966 72.0 134.0 88.6 52.2 69.9 39.0 58.9 53.8
1967 73.4 128.6 88.7 53.1 69.7 41.3 59.9 57.1
1968 76.0 129.1 91.1 55.9 70.7 43.3 61.4 58.9
1969 76.1 126.5 90.4 57.6 73.1 45.6 63.8 60.2
1970 77.3 120.5 89.9 57.4 72.0 47.7 63.9 64.1
1971 80.4 120.2 92.6 59.6 71.6 49.6 64.3 66.9
1972 82.9 123.1 95.3 63.6 74.1 51.7 66.7 67.3
1973 85.6 125.3 98.1 68.3 76.9 54.5 69.6 68.3
1974 84.3 116.9 94.7 67.2 77.4 57.5 71.0 72.1
1975 86.4 110.3 94.8 65.8 73.9 59.7 69.4 78.4
1976 89.4 114.4 98.4 70.4 76.1 61.6 71.5 78.2
1977 90.9 117.0 100.2 74.6 79.4 63.8 74.5 77.7
1978 91.7 118.3 101.1 79.1 83.5 66.9 78.2 77.5
1979 90.8 115.4 99.9 81.2 86.2 70.3 81.2 78.7
1980 90.6 108.2 97.7 80.2 85.7 74.2 82.1 83.8
1981 91.9 104.8 97.3 82.0 87.0 78.2 84.3 87.7
1982 91.4 97.3 94.1 79.4 85.6 81.6 84.4 94.0
1983 94.5 99.5 96.7 83.6 87.6 84.1 86.5 95.0
1984 96.4 103.3 99.2 90.6 93.0 87.7 91.3 93.4
1985 97.2 101.7 99.1 93.5 95.5 92.0 94.4 95.6
1986 99.8 100.0 100.0 96.7 96.6 96.7 96.7 99.9
1987 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1988 100.9 101.3 100.5 104.5 104.4 103.2 104.0 99.6
1989 100.7 100.9 99.9 107.1 107.6 106.1 107.1 99.9
1990 101.3 99.1 99.4 107.8 108.3 108.8 108.5 102.3
1991 102.5 96.0 98.5 106.4 106.8 110.8 108.0 106.7
1992 105.1 96.8 99.6 108.9 108.0 112.6 109.3 108.7
1993 105.9 97.8 100.3 112.4 110.9 115.0 112.1 108.2
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 3. Private business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1949-93 [1]
Percent Change
Productivity Inputs
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________
Year Output per Output per Multifactor Output Labor Capital Combined units Capital per
hour of all unit of productivity input services of labor and hour of
persons capital [2] [3] [4] [5] capital inputs [6] all persons
1949 3.5 -2.4 1.4 -0.2 -3.4 2.3 -1.5 6.1
1950 9.0 5.2 7.2 10.1 1.7 4.6 2.7 3.6
1951 3.5 0.8 2.4 6.4 3.0 5.5 3.9 2.7
1952 2.4 -1.8 0.8 2.2 0.0 4.1 1.3 4.3
1953 3.6 1.0 2.3 4.6 1.7 3.5 2.2 2.6
1954 2.4 -3.2 0.1 -1.2 -2.8 2.1 -1.3 5.8
1955 4.7 4.5 4.5 8.5 3.9 3.8 3.8 0.1
1956 0.3 -2.1 -0.5 1.8 1.7 4.0 2.4 2.5
1957 3.3 -1.4 1.5 1.6 -1.2 3.0 0.0 4.8
1958 3.1 -4.0 0.6 -2.0 -4.6 2.1 -2.6 7.4
1959 3.1 4.6 3.5 7.1 4.0 2.3 3.5 -1.5
1960 1.8 -1.2 0.5 1.7 0.5 3.0 1.2 3.0
1961 3.9 -0.2 2.3 2.0 -1.3 2.3 -0.2 4.2
1962 4.9 3.2 3.7 6.5 2.5 3.2 2.7 1.6
1963 4.1 1.1 3.0 4.6 0.7 3.5 1.5 3.0
1964 4.9 2.5 4.1 6.5 1.6 3.9 2.3 2.3
1965 3.6 1.8 3.1 6.9 3.0 5.0 3.7 1.8
1966 4.2 0.6 3.0 6.6 2.4 6.0 3.5 3.6
1967 2.4 -3.6 0.4 2.0 -0.3 5.7 1.6 6.2
1968 3.5 0.3 2.6 4.9 1.2 4.7 2.2 3.2
1969 0.7 -1.7 -0.3 3.1 2.7 4.9 3.4 2.5
1970 1.9 -4.4 -0.3 -0.2 -1.7 4.3 0.1 6.6
1971 4.3 0.0 3.2 3.8 -0.8 3.8 0.5 4.3
1972 3.1 2.5 2.9 6.6 3.5 4.0 3.6 0.6
1973 3.3 1.8 3.0 7.0 3.4 5.1 3.9 1.4
1974 -1.5 -6.4 -3.4 -1.6 0.6 5.1 1.9 5.2
1975 3.2 -4.8 0.7 -1.3 -4.4 3.6 -2.0 8.4
1976 3.6 3.6 3.8 6.6 2.6 2.9 2.7 0.0
1977 1.9 2.6 2.1 6.0 4.0 3.3 3.8 -0.6
1978 0.7 1.0 0.7 5.7 5.0 4.7 4.9 -0.3
1979 -0.6 -1.8 -0.7 2.7 2.9 4.5 3.4 1.2
1980 -0.2 -6.3 -2.3 -1.2 -0.7 5.5 1.1 6.5
1981 2.1 -2.3 0.2 2.8 1.4 5.2 2.5 4.5
1982 -0.4 -6.8 -3.1 -3.1 -1.6 4.0 0.0 6.9
1983 2.8 1.7 2.2 4.7 2.2 2.9 2.4 1.1
1984 2.7 4.4 3.1 8.6 5.9 4.0 5.3 -1.6
1985 1.5 -1.0 0.6 3.6 2.3 4.6 3.0 2.6
1986 2.7 -1.4 1.1 3.2 1.0 4.7 2.2 4.2
1987 0.4 0.3 0.2 3.4 3.3 3.1 3.3 0.1
1988 0.9 1.4 0.5 4.3 4.2 2.9 3.8 -0.4
1989 0.1 -0.1 -0.3 2.6 3.0 2.6 2.9 0.1
1990 0.9 -1.5 -0.2 0.9 0.5 2.4 1.1 2.4
1991 1.0 -3.0 -1.0 -1.4 -1.2 1.7 -0.3 4.1
1992 2.9 1.2 1.5 2.7 1.0 1.5 1.1 1.7
1993 0.7 0.9 0.6 2.9 2.4 2.0 2.3 -0.2
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 4. Private nonfarm business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1949-93 [1]
Percent Change
Productivity Inputs
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________
Year Output per Output per Multifactor Output Labor Capital Combined units Capital per
hour of all unit of productivity input services of labor and hour of
persons capital [2] [3] [4] [5] capital inputs [6] all persons
1949 4.4 -2.1 2.2 0.0 -4.1 2.1 -2.2 6.6
1950 6.8 5.1 5.9 10.0 3.6 4.7 3.9 1.6
1951 3.1 1.9 2.7 7.8 4.6 5.8 5.0 1.2
1952 1.6 -1.9 -0.1 2.2 1.4 4.2 2.3 3.5
1953 1.9 0.8 1.0 4.5 3.3 3.7 3.5 1.2
1954 2.3 -3.5 0.0 -1.4 -2.9 2.2 -1.4 6.0
1955 4.7 4.7 4.5 8.9 4.3 4.1 4.2 0.0
1956 -0.4 -2.1 -1.1 2.1 2.7 4.3 3.2 1.7
1957 2.5 -1.4 1.0 1.8 -0.2 3.2 0.9 4.0
1958 2.6 -4.2 0.4 -2.1 -4.4 2.2 -2.5 7.1
1959 3.1 5.0 3.6 7.6 4.5 2.5 3.9 -1.8
1960 1.0 -1.7 0.1 1.4 0.4 3.2 1.3 2.8
1961 3.5 -0.3 1.6 2.1 -0.4 2.4 0.4 3.9
1962 4.7 3.4 3.6 7.0 3.2 3.4 3.3 1.2
1963 3.6 0.9 2.6 4.6 1.1 3.6 1.9 2.6
1964 4.4 2.7 3.9 6.9 2.3 4.1 2.9 1.7
1965 3.0 1.6 2.7 6.9 3.6 5.2 4.1 1.4
1966 3.4 0.6 2.6 7.0 3.3 6.3 4.3 2.7
1967 2.0 -4.0 0.1 1.8 -0.2 6.0 1.7 6.2
1968 3.5 0.4 2.7 5.3 1.4 4.9 2.4 3.1
1969 0.1 -2.0 -0.8 3.0 3.3 5.1 3.9 2.2
1970 1.5 -4.7 -0.6 -0.4 -1.4 4.6 0.2 6.6
1971 4.0 -0.3 3.0 3.7 -0.6 4.0 0.7 4.3
1972 3.1 2.4 2.9 6.8 3.5 4.2 3.7 0.7
1973 3.2 1.7 2.9 7.4 3.8 5.5 4.3 1.5
1974 -1.5 -6.7 -3.4 -1.6 0.6 5.5 1.9 5.6
1975 2.6 -5.6 0.1 -2.0 -4.5 3.8 -2.2 8.7
1976 3.4 3.7 3.8 6.9 3.0 3.1 3.1 -0.3
1977 1.6 2.3 1.8 6.0 4.3 3.6 4.1 -0.6
1978 0.9 1.2 0.9 6.0 5.1 4.8 5.0 -0.3
1979 -0.9 -2.4 -1.2 2.6 3.3 5.2 3.8 1.5
1980 -0.2 -6.3 -2.2 -1.1 -0.6 5.5 1.1 6.5
1981 1.4 -3.1 -0.4 2.2 1.5 5.5 2.6 4.7
1982 -0.6 -7.2 -3.3 -3.2 -1.6 4.3 0.1 7.1
1983 3.4 2.3 2.8 5.4 2.3 3.1 2.5 1.1
1984 2.1 3.9 2.6 8.3 6.2 4.3 5.6 -1.7
1985 0.8 -1.6 -0.1 3.3 2.7 4.9 3.4 2.4
1986 2.7 -1.7 0.9 3.3 1.2 5.1 2.4 4.4
1987 0.2 0.0 0.0 3.4 3.5 3.4 3.5 0.1
1988 0.9 1.3 0.5 4.5 4.4 3.2 4.0 -0.4
1989 -0.2 -0.4 -0.5 2.5 3.1 2.9 3.0 0.2
1990 0.6 -1.8 -0.5 0.7 0.7 2.5 1.2 2.4
1991 1.1 -3.1 -0.9 -1.4 -1.4 1.8 -0.4 4.4
1992 2.6 0.8 1.1 2.4 1.1 1.6 1.3 1.8
1993 0.7 1.1 0.7 3.3 2.7 2.1 2.6 -0.4
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Footnotes, Tables 1-4
Source: Output data are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of
Commerce, and modified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor.
Compensation and hours data are from the BLS. Capital measures are based on data supplied by
BEA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
(1) The private business sector includes all of gross domestic product except the output of
general government, government enterprises, non-profit institutions, the rental value
of owner-occupied real estate and the output of paid employees of private households.
The private nonfarm business sector also excludes farms but includes agricultural services.
(2) Output per unit of combined labor and capital inputs.
(3) Gross domestic product originating in the sector, superlative chained index.
(4) Index of the hours at work of all persons including employees, proprietors, and unpaid
family workers classified by education, work experience and gender. The index is
computed by combining changes in the hours of each education, experience and gender
group by its share of labor compensation.
(5) A measure of the flow of capital services used in the sector.
(6) Labor input combined with capital input, using labor's and capital's shares
of costs as weights.
Table 5. Real capital input by asset type, 1948-93
Average annual growth rates (percent)
Private business
Rental
All Equip- Residential
Period Assets ment Structures Capital Inventories Land
1948-93 3.7 5.2 3.3 2.5 3.2 2.5
1948-73 3.9 5.5 3.5 2.4 4.0 2.3
1973-79 4.0 6.2 3.0 2.7 3.6 2.0
1979-90 3.8 4.6 3.5 3.0 2.1 3.6
1990-93 1.7 2.5 1.3 1.2 0.8 1.2
1992 1.5 2.0 1.2 1.1 1.4 1.1
1993 2.0 3.5 0.8 1.6 1.8 1.1
Private nonfarm business
Rental
All Equip- Residential
Period Assets ment Structures Capital Inventories Land
1948-93 3.9 5.4 3.3 2.5 3.4 3.3
1948-73 4.1 5.6 3.5 2.5 4.2 3.2
1973-79 4.3 6.3 3.0 2.7 3.8 3.7
1979-90 4.0 5.0 3.6 3.0 2.2 4.0
1990-93 1.8 2.7 1.3 1.2 0.8 1.5
1992 1.6 2.2 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.4
1993 2.1 3.7 0.9 1.6 1.9 1.2
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 6. Private business sector: Real capital input by asset type, 1948-93
Index 1987 = 100
Rental
All Equip- Residential
Year Assets ment Structures Capital Inventories Land
1948 22.0 12.2 26.1 35.7 26.4 36.3
1949 22.5 13.4 26.6 36.1 25.6 36.9
1950 23.5 14.6 26.9 36.5 27.9 37.5
1951 24.8 15.6 27.5 37.0 31.7 38.0
1952 25.8 17.0 28.3 37.3 32.9 38.7
1953 26.7 18.2 29.1 37.6 33.5 39.5
1954 27.3 19.1 30.1 37.9 32.7 40.4
1955 28.3 20.1 31.1 38.3 34.7 41.1
1956 29.4 21.2 32.4 38.7 36.5 42.1
1957 30.3 22.2 33.8 39.1 36.5 43.2
1958 31.0 22.8 35.0 39.7 36.1 44.2
1959 31.7 23.2 36.0 40.4 37.1 45.2
1960 32.6 23.8 37.2 41.3 38.8 45.9
1961 33.4 24.4 38.5 42.2 38.7 46.8
1962 34.4 25.1 39.8 43.4 40.7 47.8
1963 35.6 26.0 41.1 45.0 42.4 48.9
1964 37.0 27.2 42.5 46.8 44.2 50.3
1965 38.8 28.8 44.4 48.6 47.1 51.8
1966 41.2 31.0 46.6 50.2 51.1 53.6
1967 43.5 33.3 48.9 51.6 55.4 55.3
1968 45.6 35.3 51.0 53.2 58.2 56.8
1969 47.8 37.5 53.2 55.3 61.0 58.4
1970 49.8 39.7 55.4 57.4 62.9 59.7
1971 51.7 41.7 57.4 59.7 64.4 60.9
1972 53.8 43.9 59.3 62.4 66.2 62.1
1973 56.6 46.9 61.3 65.2 69.9 64.0
1974 59.5 50.5 63.4 67.2 73.7 65.7
1975 61.6 53.4 65.3 68.3 74.4 67.4
1976 63.4 55.8 66.9 69.3 75.8 68.7
1977 65.5 58.7 68.5 70.7 78.3 70.1
1978 68.5 63.2 70.7 72.5 82.8 71.5
1979 71.6 67.3 73.4 76.4 86.2 71.8
1980 75.5 71.4 76.7 81.7 86.1 77.1
1981 79.5 75.3 80.7 86.2 87.2 81.6
1982 82.7 78.5 84.8 88.8 87.2 84.8
1983 85.1 81.2 88.0 90.2 86.1 87.7
1984 88.5 84.8 90.9 92.2 92.0 91.2
1985 92.6 90.2 94.3 95.0 96.1 94.4
1986 97.0 95.6 97.5 97.7 99.3 96.9
1987 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1988 102.9 103.8 102.2 102.4 103.2 101.7
1989 105.6 107.5 104.4 104.5 106.2 103.1
1990 108.2 110.7 106.7 105.8 107.9 105.6
1991 110.0 113.1 108.6 106.8 107.2 107.1
1992 111.6 115.4 109.9 108.0 108.7 108.3
1993 113.8 119.4 110.7 109.7 110.6 109.5
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 7. Private nonfarm business sector: Real capital input by asset type, 1948-93
Index 1987 = 100
Rental
All Equip- Residential
Year Assets ment Structures Capital Inventories Land
1948 20.1 11.6 25.9 35.5 24.6 25.2
1949 20.6 12.6 26.3 35.8 23.8 25.8
1950 21.5 13.6 26.6 36.3 26.2 26.3
1951 22.8 14.5 27.2 36.7 30.1 26.9
1952 23.7 15.9 28.0 37.0 31.2 27.5
1953 24.6 17.1 28.8 37.3 31.8 28.3
1954 25.2 18.0 29.7 37.6 30.9 29.1
1955 26.2 18.9 30.7 38.0 33.1 29.8
1956 27.3 20.0 32.0 38.5 34.9 30.7
1957 28.2 21.0 33.5 38.9 34.9 31.7
1958 28.8 21.6 34.6 39.4 34.4 32.7
1959 29.5 22.0 35.7 40.2 35.4 33.6
1960 30.5 22.7 36.8 41.0 37.2 34.5
1961 31.2 23.3 38.1 41.9 37.0 35.5
1962 32.3 24.0 39.4 43.1 38.9 36.5
1963 33.5 24.9 40.7 44.7 40.7 37.6
1964 34.8 26.0 42.1 46.5 42.5 39.0
1965 36.7 27.7 43.9 48.3 45.4 40.6
1966 39.0 29.8 46.1 50.0 49.4 42.4
1967 41.3 32.0 48.4 51.4 53.7 44.3
1968 43.3 33.9 50.6 53.0 56.5 46.0
1969 45.6 36.2 52.7 55.1 59.3 47.8
1970 47.7 38.3 54.9 57.2 61.2 49.4
1971 49.6 40.2 56.9 59.5 62.7 51.0
1972 51.7 42.4 58.8 62.3 64.5 52.6
1973 54.5 45.4 60.9 65.1 68.4 55.2
1974 57.5 48.9 63.0 67.1 72.5 57.7
1975 59.7 51.7 64.8 68.2 73.3 60.0
1976 61.6 54.1 66.4 69.2 74.8 62.1
1977 63.8 56.9 68.0 70.5 78.2 64.1
1978 66.9 61.3 70.1 72.4 82.3 66.0
1979 70.3 65.5 72.8 76.3 85.7 68.8
1980 74.2 69.6 76.1 81.6 85.7 73.5
1981 78.2 73.6 80.2 86.1 86.6 78.7
1982 81.6 77.0 84.4 88.8 86.5 82.5
1983 84.1 79.8 87.6 90.2 85.4 85.7
1984 87.7 83.7 90.6 92.2 91.5 89.7
1985 92.0 89.4 94.1 95.0 95.8 93.2
1986 96.7 95.2 97.3 97.7 99.1 96.7
1987 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1988 103.2 104.2 102.4 102.4 103.6 101.8
1989 106.1 108.2 104.7 104.5 106.9 103.5
1990 108.8 111.7 107.1 105.9 108.7 105.8
1991 110.8 114.4 109.2 106.8 107.8 107.7
1992 112.6 116.8 110.6 108.0 109.2 109.2
1993 115.0 121.1 111.5 109.7 111.3 110.5
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics