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Internet: http://www.bls.gov/lpc/home.htm USDL 07-1321
Technical information: (202) 691-5618 For release: 10:00 a.m. EDT
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Tuesday, August 28, 2007
PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY:
WHOLESALE TRADE, RETAIL TRADE,
AND FOOD SERVICES AND DRINKING PLACES, 2006
Labor productivity--defined as output per hour--increased in wholesale trade,
retail trade, and food services and drinking places in 2006 as follows:
4.3 percent in wholesale trade
4.9 percent in retail trade and
2.4 percent in food services and drinking places.
Output grew in each of these sectors in 2006. Hours rose in wholesale trade and in food
services and drinking places, but fell in retail trade. Productivity advanced in 42 of the
50 industries studied, as output grew in 40 industries while hours declined in 21
industries. Unit labor costs fell in half of the detailed industries measured and in the
retail trade sector, but increased in the wholesale trade and food services and drinking
places sectors overall. (See table 1.)
From 1987 to 2006, labor productivity increased at the following average annual
rates:
3.5 percent in wholesale trade
3.4 percent in retail trade and
0.8 percent in food services and drinking places.
Output and hours rose in each of these sectors over the period. Productivity and output
increased in 47 of the 50 detailed industries, while hours fell in 13 industries. Unit labor
costs declined in 18 industries and in the retail trade sector, but rose in the wholesale
trade and food services and drinking places sectors during this period. (See table 2.)
Measures for industries in other sectors have been published in separate releases
and can be accessed online at: http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/prin_nr.htm.
2005-2006 change
Wholesale trade: Output per hour grew 4.3 percent, as output increased 6.6
percent and hours advanced 2.2 percent. Labor productivity rose 5.1 percent in durable
merchant wholesalers (NAICS 423) and increased 2.7 percent in nondurable merchant
wholesalers (NAICS 424). Labor productivity rose in 15 of the 19 detailed wholesale
trade industries in 2006, as output grew in 17 industries while hours fell in four. The
largest increases in productivity--13.0 percent and 11.8 percent--occurred in motor
vehicles and parts wholesalers (NAICS 4231), and farm product raw materials
wholesalers (NAICS 4245), respectively. Unit labor costs declined in seven of the 19
detailed industries, but grew 0.5 percent in wholesale trade overall.
Retail trade: Output per hour increased 4.9 percent as output grew 4.1 percent
while hours declined 0.8 percent. Labor productivity rose in 24 of the 27 detailed retail
trade industries in 2006. Output increased in 20 industries, while hours declined in 16
industries. Specialty food stores (NAICS 4452) and electronic shopping and mail-order
houses (NAICS 4541) had the largest productivity increases�20 percent and 18.2
percent, respectively. Productivity also grew in each of the six largest retail trade
industries, those with more than one million employees. Unit labor costs fell 1.5 percent
in the retail trade sector and declined in 18 of the 27 industries studied; the largest
decline, 12.2 percent, occurred in specialty food stores (NAICS 4452).
Food services and drinking places: Output per hour rose 2.4 percent as output
and hours grew 4.9 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. Three of the four industries in
food services and drinking places registered productivity gains in 2006. Output and
hours grew in each of the food services industries, but fell in drinking places (NAICS
7224). The largest increase in productivity, 3.2 percent, occurred in limited-service eating
places (NAICS 7222), while output per hour in special food services (NAICS 7223),
declined 2.4 percent. Unit labor costs rose in each of the detailed industries and grew 2.1
percent in food services and drinking places overall.
Long-term trends
Wholesale trade: Output per hour increased 3.5 percent per year, on average,
between 1987 and 2006. Output grew 4.2 percent per year and hours rose 0.7 percent per
year. At the subsector level, productivity advanced 5.6 percent per year in durable
merchant wholesale trade (NAICS 423), and increased 1.3 percent per year, on average,
in nondurable merchant wholesale trade (NAICS 424). Labor productivity increased in
17 of the 19 detailed industries. Commercial equipment wholesalers (NAICS 4234) and
electric goods wholesalers (NAICS 4236), had the largest average annual increases in
labor productivity of 15.6 percent and 9.1 percent per year, respectively. Output grew in
all but one industry, while hours decreased in six industries. Unit labor costs increased in
all but three of the wholesale trade industries over the period, and rose 0.7 percent per
year overall in the wholesale trade sector.
Retail trade: Output per hour rose an average 3.4 percent per year from 1987 to
2006, as output increased 4.2 percent per year and hours grew 0.8 percent. Output per
hour increased in all 27 detailed industries. Labor productivity rose fastest in electronics
and appliance stores (NAICS 443), at an average annual rate of 13.4 percent per year,
followed by electronic shopping and mail-order houses (NAICS 4541), which recorded
growth in output per hour of 12.0 percent per year. Output increased in 26 of the 27 retail
trade industries and hours grew in 18 industries. Unit labor cost fell in 15 of the 27
industries in this sector between 1987 and 2006 and declined 0.2 percent per year in retail
trade overall.
Food services and drinking places: Output per hour increased at an average
annual rate of 0.8 percent per year as output and hours grew 2.5 percent per year and 1.7
percent per year, respectively. The three food services industries all recorded growth in
labor productivity, output, and hours from 1987-2006. During this same period, both
output and productivity in drinking places (NAICS 7224) declined 0.5 percent per year
while hours were unchanged. Unit labor costs increased in each of the detailed industries
and rose 3.0 percent per year in food services and drinking places overall.
Technical Note
Output
Industry output is measured as sectoral output, the total value, in real terms, of
goods and services produced for sale outside the industry. Industry output measures for
the trade and food services and drinking places industries are constructed by deflating
nominal dollar revenues from the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce,
with price indexes primarily from BLS. Wherever possible, the indexes of industry
output are calculated with a T�rnqvist formula. This formula aggregates the growth rates
of the various industry outputs between two periods, using their relative shares in
industry value of production, averaged over the two periods, as weights.
Labor Hours
The industry labor input measures represent the hours of all workers in the
industry. The primary source of data on employment and hours is the BLS Current
Employment Statistics (CES) survey, which provides monthly data on the number of jobs
held by wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments. The CES survey also
provides data on the average weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers in
these establishments.
Data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) are used to supplement the CES
data. The Division of Industry Productivity Studies (DIPS) estimates the average weekly
hours of supervisory and nonproduction workers by industry using data from the CPS
together with the CES data. CPS data are also used to estimate the employment and
hours of self-employed and unpaid family workers in the trade and food services and
drinking places industries. The hours of nonsupervisory workers, supervisory workers,
and self-employed and unpaid family workers are treated as homogeneous and are
directly aggregated.
Labor Productivity
The industry labor productivity measures describe the relationship between output
and the labor time involved in its production. They show the changes from period to
period in the amount of goods and services produced per hour. Industry output per hour
indexes are prepared from data published by various public and private agencies, using
the greatest level of industry detail available.
Although the labor productivity measures relate output to hours of all persons
engaged in an industry, they do not measure the specific contribution of labor, capital, or
any other factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of many influences,
including changes in technology; capital investment; level of output; utilization of
capacity, energy, and materials; the use of purchased service inputs, including contract
employment services; the organization of production; managerial skill; and the
characteristics and effort of the workforce.
Long-term trends tend to be more reliable indicators of the performance of an
industry than are year-to-year changes. The annual changes in an industry�s output and
use of labor may reflect cyclical changes in the economy as well as long-term trends.
Also, annual productivity indexes are based on sample data, which are likely to differ
from data generated by a census of establishments in the industry.
Unit Labor Costs
The unit labor cost series represents the cost of labor input required to produce
one unit of output. The indexes of unit labor costs for each industry are computed by
dividing an index of industry labor compensation by an index of industry output.
Compensation, defined as payroll plus supplemental payments, is a measure of the cost to
the employer of securing the services of labor. Payroll includes salaries, wages,
commissions, dismissal pay, bonuses, vacation and sick leave pay, and compensation in
kind. Supplemental payments include legally required expenditures and payments for
voluntary programs. The legally required portion consists primarily of Federal old age
and survivors� insurance, unemployment compensation, and workers� compensation.
Payments for voluntary programs include all programs not specifically required by
legislation, such as the employer portion of private health insurance and pension plans.
Notes
The measures in this news release incorporate revised data from the Census
Bureau�s Current Business Reports (March 2007) and Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey
(August 2007); also included are BLS employment and hours from the annual
benchmark revision of the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey (February 2007)
and wages from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (July 2007). Output
measures for the wholesale trade industries in this release incorporate revisions to the
weights used to combine detailed commodity price indexes for deflating the sales of
manufacturers� sales branches and offices (MSBOs). The weights now reflect improved
estimates of the individual product line sales by MSBOs. The measures replace the
wholesale trade, retail trade, and food services and drinking places series published in the
news release Productivity and Costs by Industry: Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and
Food Services and Drinking Places, 2005 (released August 22, 2006) and in table 50 of
the Monthly Labor Review, and may reflect revisions to those series. All of the measures
for 2006 in this release are preliminary and subject to revision.
Published productivity and unit labor cost indexes for selected NAICS industries,
including the industries covered in this report, can be accessed electronically by visiting
the Labor Productivity and Costs Web site: http://www.bls.gov/lpc/home.htm. While
the index numbers and rates of change reported by BLS in this news release are rounded
to one decimal place, all percent changes in this release and on the BLS web site are
calculated using index numbers to three decimal places.
Additional related measures for selected detailed industries, including industry
employment, annual hours, the net value of production, and the implicit price deflator for
output, can be obtained by sending an email request to dipsweb@bls.gov or by calling the
Division of Industry Productivity Studies (202-691-5618).
Material in this report is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be
used without permission. Information in this report will be made available to sensory-
impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5618; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Table 1. Percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 2005-2006
Percent change, 2005-2006
2006 ------------------------------------------------
NAICS Industry Employment Output Labor Unit labor
code (thousands) per hour Output Hours compensation costs
Wholesale Trade
42 Wholesale trade 6118 4.3 6.6 2.2 7.2 0.5
423 Durable goods 3185 5.1 8.3 3.0 7.0 -1.2
4231 Motor vehicles and parts 365 13.0 12.7 -0.2 3.1 -8.5
4232 Furniture and furnishings 123 7.4 8.7 1.2 5.8 -2.7
4233 Lumber and construction supplies 274 -2.5 2.8 5.5 8.3 5.3
4234 Commercial equipment 667 10.0 14.0 3.6 6.8 -6.3
4235 Metals and minerals 128 -3.1 1.0 4.2 5.4 4.4
4236 Electric goods 351 10.6 9.5 -0.9 8.0 -1.4
4237 Hardware and plumbing 260 0.9 5.6 4.7 6.9 1.2
4238 Machinery and supplies 694 3.8 6.1 2.2 7.7 1.6
4239 Miscellaneous durable goods 324 -10.2 -2.6 8.5 9.1 11.9
424 Nondurable goods 2143 2.7 4.3 1.5 5.4 1.0
4241 Paper and paper products 161 -1.3 0.9 2.2 4.6 3.6
4242 Druggists' goods 217 6.7 9.2 2.4 3.9 -4.9
4243 Apparel and piece goods 166 6.8 8.5 1.6 8.5 0.0
4244 Grocery and related products 747 0.7 3.6 2.8 6.5 2.8
4245 Farm product raw materials 77 11.8 6.3 -4.9 0.5 -5.4
4246 Chemicals 137 1.3 -0.8 -2.1 5.5 6.3
4247 Petroleum 103 3.4 3.4 0.0 10.1 6.5
4248 Alcoholic beverages 155 2.6 5.1 2.4 6.7 1.5
4249 Miscellaneous nondurable goods 382 2.0 3.1 1.1 1.8 -1.3
425 Electronic markets and agents and brokers 790 7.2 8.2 0.9 12.3 3.8
Retail Trade
44-45 Retail trade 16389 4.9 4.1 -0.8 2.5 -1.5
441 Motor vehicle and parts dealers 2002 2.2 0.5 -1.6 1.6 1.1
4411 Automobile dealers 1306 2.4 1.1 -1.3 1.8 0.7
4412 Other motor vehicle dealers 181 0.8 -3.5 -4.3 -1.1 2.5
4413 Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores 516 -0.1 -1.7 -1.6 2.1 3.9
442 Furniture and home furnishings stores 650 7.4 8.0 0.6 4.3 -3.4
4421 Furniture stores 322 8.4 5.6 -2.6 3.4 -2.0
4422 Home furnishings stores 328 6.6 10.9 4.0 5.3 -5.0
443 Electronics and appliance stores 571 12.6 17.0 3.9 4.2 -11.0
444 Building material and garden supply stores 1378 6.5 7.9 1.3 4.0 -3.6
4441 Building material and supplies dealers 1208 5.9 7.5 1.5 4.8 -2.5
4442 Lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores 169 10.7 10.9 0.2 -2.2 -11.9
445 Food and beverage stores 2933 3.2 2.8 -0.5 1.8 -0.9
4451 Grocery stores 2524 1.8 2.1 0.3 2.6 0.5
4452 Specialty food stores 255 20.0 10.1 -8.3 -3.4 -12.2
4453 Beer, wine and liquor stores 154 5.0 7.7 2.6 -0.4 -7.6
446 Health and personal care stores 987 4.9 4.1 -0.7 4.8 0.7
447 Gasoline stations 882 -2.3 -1.3 1.0 0.7 2.0
448 Clothing and clothing accessories stores 1537 10.5 6.2 -3.9 1.1 -4.7
4481 Clothing stores 1142 10.9 6.5 -4.0 -0.3 -6.4
4482 Shoe stores 185 12.3 5.9 -5.7 4.6 -1.3
4483 Jewelry, luggage, and leather goods stores 210 7.1 4.6 -2.3 3.9 -0.6
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores 726 6.3 7.0 0.7 1.1 -5.5
4511 Sporting goods and musical instrument stores 520 11.8 12.2 0.4 2.7 -8.5
4512 Book, periodical, and music stores 207 -6.6 -5.4 1.3 -2.7 2.9
452 General merchandise stores 2944 5.1 5.0 0.0 3.9 -1.1
4521 Department stores 1563 2.9 -0.5 -3.4 0.2 0.8
4529 Other general merchandise stores 1381 5.4 8.8 3.3 8.1 -0.7
453 Miscellaneous store retailers 1084 12.2 8.2 -3.6 0.7 -6.9
4531 Florists 119 3.9 -4.6 -8.2 -7.9 -3.4
4532 Office supplies, stationery and gift stores 421 14.7 10.3 -3.8 -0.6 -9.9
4533 Used merchandise stores 191 4.4 11.0 6.3 9.6 -1.3
4539 Other miscellaneous store retailers 353 14.5 7.6 -6.1 0.9 -6.3
454 Nonstore retailers 695 17.3 10.1 -6.2 0.8 -8.5
4541 Electronic shopping and mail-order houses 296 18.2 14.7 -2.9 2.8 -10.4
4542 Vending machine operators 66 5.4 -4.8 -9.6 1.9 7.0
4543 Direct selling establishments 333 11.6 1.9 -8.7 -1.8 -3.6
Food Services and Drinking Places
722 Food services and drinking places 9656 2.4 4.9 2.4 7.2 2.1
7221 Full-service restaurants 4495 2.9 5.7 2.8 7.0 1.3
7222 Limited-service eating places 4082 3.2 5.4 2.1 6.6 1.1
7223 Special food services 700 -2.4 2.8 5.3 10.8 7.8
7224 Drinking places, alcoholic beverages 380 2.6 -2.3 -4.8 4.8 7.3
Table 2. Average annual percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 1987-2006
Average annual percent change, 1987-2006
-------------------------------------------------------
NAICS Industry Output Labor Unit labor
code per hour Output Hours compensation costs
Wholesale Trade
42 Wholesale trade 3.5 4.2 0.7 5.0 0.7
423 Durable goods 5.6 6.2 0.5 5.1 -1.0
4231 Motor vehicles and parts 4.3 4.2 -0.1 4.3 0.1
4232 Furniture and furnishings 2.8 3.0 0.2 5.1 2.1
4233 Lumber and construction supplies 1.2 3.3 2.0 4.7 1.4
4234 Commercial equipment 15.6 16.4 0.6 5.3 -9.5
4235 Metals and minerals -0.1 0.4 0.5 4.9 4.5
4236 Electric goods 9.1 8.9 -0.2 5.2 -3.4
4237 Hardware and plumbing 1.3 2.8 1.4 5.4 2.5
4238 Machinery and supplies 2.7 2.8 0.1 4.8 1.9
4239 Miscellaneous durable goods 1.5 2.7 1.1 5.8 3.0
424 Nondurable goods 1.3 1.7 0.3 5.1 3.3
4241 Paper and paper products 2.5 2.0 -0.5 4.2 2.1
4242 Druggists' goods 2.8 5.3 2.4 10.7 5.1
4243 Apparel and piece goods 3.0 2.8 -0.2 4.5 1.7
4244 Grocery and related products 0.9 1.9 1.0 5.0 3.0
4245 Farm product raw materials 2.1 -0.6 -2.7 3.3 4.0
4246 Chemicals -0.1 0.8 0.9 4.9 4.1
4247 Petroleum 3.3 0.4 -2.9 3.1 2.7
4248 Alcoholic beverages 0.4 2.0 1.5 5.0 3.0
4249 Miscellaneous nondurable goods 0.7 0.8 0.1 3.6 2.9
425 Electronic markets and agents and brokers 2.0 4.7 2.6 4.6 -0.1
Retail Trade
44-45 Retail trade 3.4 4.2 0.8 4.0 -0.2
441 Motor vehicle and parts dealers 2.7 3.8 1.1 4.4 0.5
4411 Automobile dealers 2.5 3.7 1.2 4.5 0.7
4412 Other motor vehicle dealers 3.5 6.0 2.4 6.4 0.4
4413 Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores 2.5 3.0 0.5 3.3 0.3
442 Furniture and home furnishings stores 4.2 5.4 1.2 4.5 -0.8
4421 Furniture stores 3.7 4.6 0.9 4.1 -0.5
4422 Home furnishings stores 4.8 6.4 1.5 5.0 -1.2
443 Electronics and appliance stores 13.4 15.6 1.9 4.9 -9.2
444 Building material and garden supply stores 3.4 5.5 2.0 4.7 -0.8
4441 Building material and supplies dealers 3.3 5.7 2.3 5.0 -0.7
4442 Lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores 4.3 4.4 0.0 2.9 -1.4
445 Food and beverage stores 0.5 0.4 -0.1 3.3 2.8
4451 Grocery stores 0.4 0.4 0.0 3.5 3.0
4452 Specialty food stores 0.5 0.4 -0.2 2.3 2.0
4453 Beer, wine and liquor stores 2.5 0.9 -1.6 2.4 1.5
446 Health and personal care stores 2.7 3.9 1.2 5.2 1.2
447 Gasoline stations 2.0 1.5 -0.4 2.5 1.0
448 Clothing and clothing accessories stores 4.9 5.0 0.1 3.3 -1.6
4481 Clothing stores 5.0 5.5 0.5 3.6 -1.8
4482 Shoe stores 4.4 3.0 -1.4 1.9 -1.1
4483 Jewelry, luggage, and leather goods stores 4.5 4.8 0.3 3.4 -1.4
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores 4.6 5.1 0.5 4.1 -0.9
4511 Sporting goods and musical instrument stores 5.5 5.9 0.4 4.2 -1.6
4512 Book, periodical, and music stores 2.4 3.2 0.8 3.8 0.6
452 General merchandise stores 3.9 5.6 1.6 4.1 -1.4
4521 Department stores 1.4 2.5 1.1 3.0 0.5
4529 Other general merchandise stores 7.3 9.6 2.1 5.6 -3.6
453 Miscellaneous store retailers 4.8 5.2 0.4 3.0 -2.1
4531 Florists 2.6 0.2 -2.3 0.6 0.4
4532 Office supplies, stationery and gift stores 6.8 7.1 0.2 3.5 -3.4
4533 Used merchandise stores 5.1 6.5 1.3 4.4 -2.0
4539 Other miscellaneous store retailers 2.9 4.4 1.4 2.7 -1.6
454 Nonstore retailers 8.9 9.3 0.4 3.8 -5.1
4541 Electronic shopping and mail-order houses 12.0 16.0 3.6 7.8 -7.1
4542 Vending machine operators 0.8 -1.5 -2.3 1.4 3.0
4543 Direct selling establishments 3.5 2.4 -1.1 1.6 -0.8
Food Services and Drinking Places
722 Food services and drinking places 0.8 2.5 1.7 5.6 3.0
7221 Full-service restaurants 0.9 2.7 1.8 6.6 3.8
7222 Limited-service eating places 0.8 2.7 2.0 5.4 2.6
7223 Special food services 1.4 2.5 1.1 3.8 1.3
7224 Drinking places, alcoholic beverages -0.5 -0.5 0.0 2.4 2.9