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Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/mfp USDL 06-513
Historical, technical Thursday, March 23, 2006
information: (202) 691-5606 For Release: 10:00 AM EST
Media contact: (202) 691-5902
MULTIFACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS, 2003 AND 2004
Private Business and Private Nonfarm Business
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported
today multifactor productivity data � output per combined units of labor
and capital inputs � for 2003 and 2004. The annual rates of multifactor
productivity change from 2002 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2004 were:
2002-03 2003-04
Private business sector 2.8 2.9
Private nonfarm business sector 2.7 2.9
Multifactor productivity in the private business and private nonfarm
business sectors in 2003 and 2004 show the fastest rates of growth in
the current time series, which go back to 1987. In both sectors,
multifactor productivity grew at a slightly faster pace in 2004 than in
2003. The 2002-3 and 2003-4 annual changes are summarized in table A,
and further detail and historical measures are shown in tables 1 through 6.
Multifactor productivity is designed to measure the joint influences of
economic growth on technological change, efficiency improvements, returns
to scale, reallocation of resources, and other factors, allowing for the
effects of capital and labor. Multifactor productivity, therefore,
differs from labor productivity (output per hour worked) measures that are
published quarterly by BLS since it includes information on capital
services and other data that are not available on a quarterly basis.
In private business and private nonfarm business, the change in
multifactor productivity reflects the difference between the change in
real gross domestic product for the sector and the change in labor and
capital inputs engaged in the production of this output. The output
measures for private business and private nonfarm business are similar
to the indexes of output for business and nonfarm business used in the
quarterly labor productivity measures, but the output of government
enterprises is omitted.
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 engaged in production.
Chart 1 shows the annual indexes of multifactor productivity, output per
hour worked, and output per unit of capital services for the 1987-2004
period for private business. Over the last 17 years, capital services
have grown more rapidly than hours in the private business sector, and
the skills of workers -- as measured by their education and work
experience -- also have risen over this period. These shifts toward more
capital intensive production and toward workers with more human capital
have supplemented multifactor productivity growth, usually allowing output
per hour to grow at a faster rate than multifactor productivity.
Private business sector
Changes in 2003. Multifactor productivity rose 2.8 percent in 2003.
Along with an almost similar increase in 2004, it was the largest rate of
increase in the current time series. The multifactor productivity gain
in 2003 reflected a 3.4 percent increase in output and a more modest 0.6
percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor.
Growth in capital services slowed to 2.1 percent, the slowest growth since
the current series began in 1987. Labor input posted a slight drop of 0.1
percent, marking the third consecutive year that labor input declined. It
had fallen 1.4 percent in 2001 and 1.3 percent in 2002. Hours fell 0.5
percent in 2003. The capital-labor ratio (capital services per hour of
all persons) increased by 2.7 percent.
Equipment capital services grew 3.5 percent in 2003, much more rapidly
than other broad categories of capital assets (see table 5). Within
equipment, services of computers and related equipment grew 14.1 percent,
software 5.2 percent, communication equipment 4.9 percent, other
information processing equipment 3.0 percent, and all other equipment 1.1
percent. However, these rates are markedly lower than in the 1995-2000
period. Services of structures and land continued to grow at rates
similar to recent years, about one percent. In the 1995-2000 period,
services of structures were growing at a compound average annual rate of
2.0 percent and services of land 0.7 percent. Inventories grew at an
annual rate of 0.8 percent in 2003, down from the 3.9 percent compound
average annual rate of growth in the 1995-2000 period.
Table A. Productivity and related data, percent changes,
2002-2003 and 2003-2004
Private Private
Business1 Nonfarm
Business1
2002-03 2003-04 2002-03 2003-04
Productivity
Multifactor Productivity2 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.9
Output per hour of all persons 4.0 3.4 3.9 3.4
Output per unit of capital services 1.3 2.3 1.2 2.4
Output 3.4 4.8 3.4 4.9
Inputs
Labor input3 -0.1 1.5 0.0 1.6
Hours -0.5 1.3 -0.5 1.4
Labor Composition4 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.2
Capital services 2.1 2.5 2.2 2.4
Combined units of labor and capital inputs 0.6 1.8 0.7 1.9
Analytic ratio:
Capital services per hour of all persons 2.7 1.2 2.6 1.0
1. Excludes government enterprises.
2. Output per unit of combined labor and capital inputs.
3. Index of hours worked; hours worked by education and experience group
are weighted by each group�s share of labor compensation.
4. Ratio of labor input to hours.
5. Labor input index combined with capital service input index,
weighted by labor's and capital's shares of nominal output.
Labor input reflects the change in hours at work adjusted for the effects
of changing labor composition. As mentioned previously, labor input fell
0.1 percent. The modest decline of labor input was due to a decline in
hours at work that was almost offset by a strong positive contribution
from labor composition (see table A). Hours fell 0.5 percent in 2003,
the third consecutive year of decline. Changes in labor composition, as
measured by shifts in the educational attainment and work experience of
the work force, rose 0.4 percent (see �Changes in the Composition of
Labor for the BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures, 2004�, available at
http://www.bls.gov/web/mprlabor.pdf). Employment declined 0.1 percent in
2003.
Labor productivity (output per hour worked) increased 4.0 percent, nearly
the same as the growth rate of 4.1 percent in 2002. Capital productivity
(output per unit of capital services) grew 1.3 percent, the first increase
since 1997.
Changes in 2004. Multifactor productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.9
percent, 0.1 percent more than in 2003. The combined inputs of labor and
capital grew 1.8 percent, the fastest rise since the 2.6 percent increase
in 2000, and output rose at even a faster pace, 4.8 percent.
Capital services increased 2.5 percent in 2004. Hours rose 1.3
percent, ending three consecutive years of declines. As a result, the
change in the capital-labor ratio, which is roughly equivalent to the
growth in capital services less the increase in labor hours, grew 1.2
percent.
Equipment continued to account for most of the growth in capital
services, rising 4.0 percent, with information processing equipment and
software exhibiting the fastest growth rate among all equipment types,
7.0 percent. Services of structures grew at the same 0.9 percent rate
as in 2003. Growth rates for inventories and land almost doubled from
the previous year. Inventories grew 1.5 percent, higher than the 0.8
percent increase in 2003. Land rose 1.7 percent, up from 1.0 percent
in 2003.
Labor productivity grew more slowly, 3.4 percent, than the 4.1 and 4.0
percent increases in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Labor input rose by
1.5 percent after falling in the three previous years. Most of the
increase in labor input came from the 1.3 percent increase in hours;
labor composition added an additional 0.2 percent. Capital
productivity grew 2.3 percent, the highest rate of growth in the
current time series.
Private nonfarm business
Changes in 2003. Multifactor productivity in the private nonfarm business
sector rose 2.7 percent in 2003. It was the largest rate of increase in
the current time series. Output increased 3.4 percent, and the combined
inputs of capital and labor increased 0.7 percent.
Labor input was unchanged. Capital services grew 2.2 percent, the fourth
consecutive year in which growth in capital services decelerated. The
fastest growing component of capital services was equipment (see table 6).
However, growth in equipment, 3.5 percent, was relatively slow compared to
the extremely high compound annual average rate of growth in 1995-2000 of
9.5 percent. The increase in equipment in 2003 was largely due to capital
services of information processing equipment and software rising by 6.4
percent. As in previous years, the fastest growth in equipment was in
computers and related equipment, which grew 14.1 percent.
Labor productivity grew 3.9 percent and capital productivity rose 1.2
percent. Capital services per hour increased at the rate of 2.6 percent.
Changes in 2004. Multifactor productivity in the private nonfarm
business sector increased 2.9 percent, a 0.2 percentage point increase
from the previous year. Output grew 4.9 percent, an increase of 1.5
percentage points from 2003, and the growth of combined capital and
labor inputs rose 1.9 percent, an increase from 0.7 percent in 2003.
Labor input rose 1.6 percent in 2004, up from no growth in 2003. Hours
at work contributed 1.4 of the 1.6 percent increase in labor input with
labor composition providing the additional 0.2 percentage point.
Capital services grew 2.4 percent and, as a result, the capital-labor
ratio rose only 1.0 percent, compared to 2.6 percent in 2003.
Labor productivity grew 3.4 percent, a drop from the 3.9 percent
increase in 2003. Capital productivity grew 2.4 percent, the second
consecutive annual increase.
Historical trends in private business and private nonfarm business
Labor productivity (output per hour worked) differs from multifactor
productivity (output per unit of combined capital and labor inputs) in
the treatment of both capital and hours. Labor productivity measures
do not explicitly account for the effects of capital nor do they account
for changes 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. In contrast,
multifactor productivity treats capital as an explicit factor of
production and, therefore, is net of changes in capital intensity.
In addition, the labor input measure used to calculate multifactor
productivity reflects the combined effects of changes in hours at work
and of shifts in the educational attainment and experience of the work
force. Therefore, multifactor productivity accounts for changes in labor
composition as well. Historical trends in 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 labor composition (see table B).
The contribution of capital intensity equals the change in the
capital-hours ratio multiplied by capital's share of total payments to
inputs. 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 payments. Historically, capital's
share has been slightly less than a third of total payments.
Because trends in the private nonfarm business sector were similar to
those in the private business sector in each period, the description that
follows focuses exclusively on the private business sector.
Over the 1987-2004 period, output per hour worked grew at an annual rate
of 2.4 percent in private business (see table B). Of the 2.4 percent
growth rate in labor productivity, 1.1 percent can be attributed to
increases in multifactor productivity, 0.9 percent to the contribution of
capital intensity, and 0.4 percent to changes in labor composition. Since
1987, output per hour worked has accelerated, growing 1.5 percent in the
1990-95 period, 2.7 percent in the 1995-2000 period, and 3.6 percent in
the 2000-2004 period.
In the period 1987-1990, all of the productivity measures (see table B)
grew to varying degrees. Multifactor productivity increased at annual
average rate of 0.6 percent. Labor productivity grew at annual average
rate of 1.5 percent. The contribution of capital intensity averaged a
growth rate of 0.6 percent with information processing equipment
exhibiting a growth rate of 0.4 percent and other capital services
growing 0.1 percent. The contribution of labor composition increased
0.4 percent.
Over the 1990-1995 period, increases in the productivity measures were
similar to those in the 1987-1990 period. Multifactor productivity rose
0.5 percent. Labor productivity grew at 1.5 percent, the same rate as in
1987-1990. The contribution of capital intensity grew 0.5 percent, with
information processing equipment contributing over 80 percent of this
growth. The contribution of labor composition rose 0.4 percent, the same
as in the previous period.
In the latter half of the 1990s, growth in productivity measures
accelerated. Multifactor productivity growth expanded 1.4 percent and
output per hour growth nearly doubled from the previous period, to 2.7
percent. Growth of the contribution of capital intensity doubled from
the previous period to 1.1 percent. The growth of the two components of
the contribution of capital intensity, information processing equipment
and other capital services, also doubled from the previous period, with
information processing equipment commanding an even more predominant
share of the total contribution of capital services. The growth of
information processing equipment rose to 0.9 percent while other capital
services grew 0.2 percent. The contribution of labor composition dropped
0.1 percentage point from the previous period, to 0.3 percent.
In the 2000-2004 period, productivity measures continued to accelerate
but at a slower pace. Multifactor productivity growth increased an
additional 0.5 percentage points from the previous period to 1.9 percent.
Labor productivity continued its upward trend, rising to 3.6 percent.
The contribution of capital intensity growth gained 0.1 percentage points
from the previous period to 1.2 percent. Growth in the composition of
capital intensity came in equal parts from both of the major components.
The contribution of information processing equipment dropped to a growth
rate of 0.6 percent from 0.9 percent in the previous period. At the same
time, other capital services rose to 0.6 percent. The contribution of
labor composition growth increased to 0.5 percent.
Table B. Compound average annual rates of growth in output per hour of all
persons and the contributions of capital intensity, labor composition,
and multifactor productivity, by major sector, 2003-2004
(percent per year)
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2002- 2003-
04 90 95 00 04 03 04
Private business1
Output per hour
of all persons 2.4 1.5 1.5 2.7 3.6 4.0 3.4
Contribution of
capital intensity2 0.9 0.6 0.5 1.1 1.2 0.8 0.4
Contribution of
information processing
equipment and software3 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.4
Contribution of all
other capital services 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.0
Contribution of
labor composition4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.1
Multifactor productivity5 1.1 0.6 0.5 1.4 1.9 2.8 2.9
Private nonfarm business1
Output per hour
of all persons 2.3 1.5 1.6 2.5 3.5 3.9 3.4
Contribution of
capital intensity2 0.9 0.6 0.6 1.1 1.2 0.8 0.3
Contribution of
information processing
equipment and software3 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.4
Contribution of all
other capital services 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.0
Contribution of
labor composition4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.1
Multifactor productivity5 1.0 0.5 0.6 1.2 1.9 2.7 2.9
Contribution of R&D to
multifactor productivity
1. Excludes government enterprises.
2. Growth rate in capital services per hour times capital's share of current
dollar costs.
3. Growth rate of information processing equipment and software per hour
multiplied by its share of total costs.
4. Growth rate of labor composition (the growth rate of labor input less the
growth rate of the hours of all persons) multiplied by labor's share of
current dollar costs.
5. Output per unit of combined labor and capital inputs.
Note: Multifactor productivity plus contribution of capital intensity
and labor composition may not sum to output per hour due to independent
rounding. Contribution of information processing equipment and all other
capital equipment may not sum to the contribution of capital intensity due to
independent rounding.
Contribution of information processing equipment and all other capital may not
sum to the contribution of capital intensity due to independent rounding.
Contribution of research and development to multifactor productivity in private
nonfarm business
While multifactor productivity reflects many influences, technological
change is one of the primary contributors. For private nonfarm business,
BLS also reports estimates of the impact on multifactor productivity
growth of firms' spending for research and development (R&D) on all firms
within the same industries. Because many people associate research and
development spending and the resulting technological improvements with
productivity, multifactor productivity has not been adjusted to exclude
the effects of research and development. The contribution of research and
development averaged 0.2 percent per year for the entire 1987-2004
period, or about 17 percent of total multifactor productivity growth
(see table B). The contribution of research and development varied little
over time, contributing 0.2 percent per year during the following periods:
1987-90, 1990-95 period, and 1995-2000. The contribution of research and
development to multifactor productivity increased to 0.3 percent in recent
years, the 2000-04 period.
Revisions
Private business and private nonfarm business output series to 2004
reflect the annual revisions to the National Income and Product Accounts
(NIPA), announced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in July 2005.
BLS built multifactor productivity measures from three-digit NAICS detail.
Most critical data were not reported on a NAICS basis for years prior to
1998. Detailed GDP by industry data, are available from 1998 forward, but
from 1987-1997, many of the income components needed to construct capital
rental prices were obtained by applying 1997 SIC-to-NAICS conversion
factors to SIC data and adjusting to the resulting NAICS totals. A
similar procedure was applied to manufacturing inventories. Detailed
nonmanufacturing inventories were constructed using total inventory for
the private business sector and nonmanfacturing industry shares of total
inventory derived from the IRS book value of inventories reported for
NAICS industries. Land data were only available from 1998 to 2002 on a
NAICS basis. As a consequence, land estimates from 1987 to 1997 were
calculated using a combination of SIC to NAICS conversion factors and more
detailed IRS data. Data for 2003 and 2004 were extrapolated using
detailed IRS data for 2002.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has used Current Population Survey (CPS)
data to measure the hours of nonfarm proprietors and unpaid family
workers, and all persons working in the farm sector using the hours
worked by people whose main job falls into these categories. Since the
Productivity and Costs release of June 2005, hours for primary and
secondary jobs held by persons working more than one job were processed
separately and assigned to the appropriate class of worker for each job,
rather than assigning all hours to the primary job. Hours worked in a
second job as a nonfarm employee by a proprietor (or other selected
category of worker for whom our source is the CPS) were deducted to avoid
double-counting. Conversely, hours worked as a proprietor in a secondary
job by a person who is primarily an employee were included. This
multiple-jobholder adjustment yielded an improved measure of hours at
work by sector and industry and the employment series approximated a
count of jobs rather than persons. This adjustment has not yet been
implemented within the manufacturing sector, where there are very few
proprietors.
Labor composition measures have been updated through 2004. A brief
description, �Changes in the Composition of Labor for the BLS Multifactor
Productivity Measures, 2004� is available at
http://www.bls.gov/web/mprlabor.pdf.
Comprehensive tables containing additional data not included in this news
release are available at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm or in print
upon request.
Summary of Methods
The following note 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 (September 1983),
"Trends in Multifactor Productivity, 1948-81.", the BLS
Handbook of Methods, Chapter 10 at
http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch10.pdf, and on the BLS Multifactor
Productivity website at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mfpover.htm. Additional
data not contained in the release can be obtained in print or at
http://www.bls.gov/mfp.
Capital Input: Capital input measures the services derived from the stock
of physical assets and software. The assets included are fixed business
equipment, structures, inventories, and land. Among equipment, BLS provides
additional detail for information processing equipment and software (IPES).
IPES is composed of four broad classes of assets: computers and related
equipment, software, communications equipment, and other IPES equipment.
Computers and related equipment includes mainframe computers, personal
computers, printers, terminals, tape drives, storage devices, and integrated
systems. Software is comprised of pre-packaged, custom, and own-account
software. Communications equipment is not further differentiated. Other
IPES includes medical equipment and related instruments, electromedical
instruments, nonmedical instruments, photocopying and related equipment,
and office and accounting machinery. Structures include nonresidential
structures and residential capital that is rented out by profit-making firms
or persons.
Financial assets are excluded from capital input measures, as are
owner-occupied residential structures. The aggregate capital input
measures are obtained by Tornqvist aggregation of the capital stocks
for each asset type within each of 60 NAICS industry groupings 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 are obtained from BEA. Data on inventories are obtained
from BEA using additional information from IRS Corporation Income Returns.
Estimates for land in the farm sector are obtained from USDA. Nonfarm
industry detail is based on IRS book value data. Current-dollar gross
product originating (GPO) data, obtained from BEA, are used in estimating
capital rental prices.
Labor Input: Labor input in private business and private nonfarm
business is obtained by Tornqvist aggregation of the hours at work by
all persons, classified by education, work experience, and gender with
weights determined by their shares of labor compensation. Hours paid of
employees are largely obtained from CES. These hours of employees are
then converted to an at-work basis by using information from the
Employment Cost Index (ECI) of the National Compensation Survey and the
Hours at Work Survey. Hours at work for nonproduction and supervisory
workers are derived using data from the CPS, the CES, and the NCS. The
hours at work of proprietors, unpaid family workers, and farm employees
are derived from the Current Population Survey. Hours at work data
reflect Productivity and Costs data as of the February 2, 2006 news
release. It does not reflect benchmark revisions to the CES survey and
other revisions to hours released on February 3, 2006. 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 (December 1993),
"Labor Composition and U.S. Productivity Growth, 1948-90."
Combined Inputs: The labor and capital components of the input indexes
are combined with Tornqvist weights that represent each component's
share of total costs. Total costs are defined as the value of output
(Gross Product Originating) less a portion of taxes on production and
imports. Most taxes on production and imports, 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.
Output: This release presents data for the private business and private
nonfarm business sectors. The private business sector, which accounted
for approximately 77 percent of gross domestic product in 2000, 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. Additionally, the private nonfarm business sector excludes
farms from the private business sector, but includes agricultural
services. Multifactor measures exclude government enterprises, while
the BLS quarterly Productivity and Cost series include them.
Multifactor Productivity: Multifactor productivity measures describe
the relationship between output in real terms and the inputs involved
in its production. They do not measure the specific contributions of
labor, capital, or any other factor of production. Rather, multifactor
productivity is designed to measure the joint influences of output,
capital, and labor on economic growth of technological change, efficiency
improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources due to shifts
in factor inputs across industries, and other factors.
The multifactor productivity indexes for private business and private
nonfarm business 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 1987 to 2004, BEA supplies the output indexes.
BLS adjusts these to eliminate the output of government enterprises.
Research and development
The stock of research and development in private nonfarm business is
derived by cumulating constant dollar measures of research and development
expenditures and allowing for depreciation. Current dollar expenditures
for privately financed research and development for the years 1987-2004
are obtained from annual issues of Research and Development in Industry
published by the National Science Foundation. BLS develops price
deflators and estimates of the rate of depreciation. Further description
of these data and methods can be found in BLS Bulletin 2331
(September 1989), "The Impact of Research and Development on Productivity
Growth."
Table 1. Private business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1987-2004
Indexes 2000=100
Output Combined
per Output Multi- units of
hour per factor Capital capital Capital
of all unit of Product- Labor Serv- and per hour of
Year persons capital ivity2 Output3 Input4 ices5 labor6 all persons
1987 77.5 104.9 89.5 62.4 75.2 59.5 69.8 73.8
1988 78.7 105.6 90.2 65.2 77.9 61.7 72.3 74.5
1989 79.5 105.6 90.5 67.6 80.3 64.0 74.7 75.3
1990 81.1 104.0 91.0 68.6 80.4 66.0 75.4 78.0
1991 82.5 100.7 90.3 68.1 79.4 67.6 75.4 81.9
1992 86.0 102.6 92.7 70.9 80.2 69.1 76.5 83.9
1993 86.4 102.9 93.0 73.2 82.5 71.2 78.7 84.0
1994 87.3 104.4 93.7 76.8 86.2 73.6 82.0 83.6
1995 87.5 103.3 93.5 79.2 88.7 76.6 84.7 84.7
1996 90.1 103.5 95.1 82.8 90.5 80.0 87.1 87.1
1997 91.8 103.7 96.0 87.2 94.1 84.1 90.8 88.5
1998 94.4 103.0 97.5 91.5 96.3 88.8 93.9 91.6
1999 97.2 102.0 98.7 96.2 98.9 94.3 97.5 95.3
2000 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
2001 102.8 96.3 100.2 100.5 98.6 104.4 100.3 106.8
2002 107.0 95.2 101.8 102.0 97.3 107.1 100.2 112.3
2003 111.2 96.4 104.7 105.5 97.2 109.4 100.8 115.3
2004 115.0 98.6 107.7 110.6 98.7 112.1 102.7 116.6
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 2. Private nonfarm business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1987-2004
Indexes 2000=100
Output Combined
per Output Multi- units of
hour per factor Capital capital Capital
of all unit of Product- Labor Serv- and per hour of
Year persons capital ivity2 Output3 Input4 ices5 labor6 all persons
1987 78.0 106.4 90.2 62.4 74.7 58.7 69.2 73.3
1988 79.4 107.6 91.1 65.3 77.4 60.7 71.7 73.8
1989 80.0 107.3 91.2 67.6 79.9 63.0 74.1 74.5
1990 81.5 105.5 91.6 68.6 80.0 65.0 74.9 77.3
1991 82.9 101.9 91.0 68.1 78.9 66.8 74.8 81.4
1992 86.4 103.5 93.2 70.8 79.7 68.4 76.0 83.5
1993 86.8 103.9 93.5 73.2 82.2 70.5 78.3 83.6
1994 87.8 105.2 94.3 76.7 85.6 72.9 81.4 83.5
1995 88.3 104.3 94.3 79.3 88.1 76.0 84.1 84.7
1996 90.7 104.2 95.6 82.8 90.1 79.5 86.6 87.0
1997 92.1 104.1 96.3 87.2 93.7 83.7 90.5 88.5
1998 94.7 103.4 97.7 91.5 96.0 88.5 93.7 91.5
1999 97.3 102.3 98.8 96.3 98.9 94.2 97.5 95.2
2000 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
2001 102.7 96.3 100.1 100.5 98.7 104.5 100.4 106.7
2002 106.9 95.1 101.8 102.1 97.3 107.3 100.2 112.4
2003 111.1 96.3 104.6 105.5 97.3 109.6 100.9 115.4
2004 114.9 98.6 107.7 110.6 98.9 112.3 102.8 116.6
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 3. Private business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1987-2004
Percent change
Output Combined
per Output Multi- units of
hour per factor Capital capital Capital
of all unit of Product- Labor Serv- and per hour of
Year persons capital ivity2 Output3 Input4 ices5 labor6 all persons
1988 1.6 0.7 0.8 4.4 3.5 3.7 3.6 0.9
1989 1.0 0.0 0.3 3.7 3.1 3.7 3.3 1.0
1990 2.1 -1.5 0.6 1.5 0.0 3.1 1.0 3.6
1991 1.6 -3.2 -0.7 -0.7 -1.2 2.6 0.0 5.0
1992 4.3 1.8 2.6 4.1 1.0 2.2 1.4 2.4
1993 0.5 0.3 0.3 3.2 2.9 2.9 2.9 0.2
1994 1.0 1.5 0.8 5.0 4.5 3.4 4.1 -0.5
1995 0.2 -1.1 -0.3 3.0 2.8 4.2 3.3 1.4
1996 3.0 0.2 1.7 4.6 2.1 4.4 2.8 2.8
1997 1.9 0.2 1.0 5.3 3.9 5.1 4.3 1.7
1998 2.8 -0.7 1.5 4.9 2.3 5.6 3.4 3.5
1999 3.0 -1.0 1.3 5.2 2.7 6.2 3.8 4.0
2000 2.8 -2.0 1.3 3.9 1.1 6.0 2.6 4.9
2001 2.8 -3.7 0.2 0.5 -1.4 4.4 0.3 6.8
2002 4.1 -1.1 1.7 1.5 -1.3 2.6 -0.1 5.2
2003 4.0 1.3 2.8 3.4 -0.1 2.1 0.6 2.7
2004 3.4 2.3 2.9 4.8 1.5 2.5 1.8 1.2
See footnotes following table 4.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 4. Private nonfarm business sector: Productivity and related measures, 1987-2004
Percent change
Output Combined
per Output Multi- units of
hour per factor Capital capital Capital
of all unit of Product- Labor Serv- and per hour of
Year persons capital ivity2 Output3 Input4 ices5 labor6 all persons
1988 1.7 1.1 1.0 4.6 3.7 3.5 3.6 0.6
1989 0.7 -0.2 0.1 3.5 3.2 3.8 3.4 1.0
1990 1.9 -1.7 0.4 1.5 0.1 3.2 1.1 3.7
1991 1.8 -3.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1.4 2.7 -0.1 5.3
1992 4.1 1.5 2.4 3.9 1.1 2.4 1.5 2.6
1993 0.5 0.4 0.3 3.5 3.2 3.0 3.1 0.1
1994 1.2 1.3 0.9 4.8 4.1 3.5 3.9 -0.1
1995 0.6 -0.9 0.0 3.3 2.9 4.3 3.3 1.5
1996 2.6 -0.1 1.4 4.5 2.3 4.6 3.0 2.7
1997 1.6 -0.1 0.7 5.2 4.1 5.3 4.5 1.7
1998 2.8 -0.7 1.5 5.0 2.4 5.7 3.5 3.5
1999 2.8 -1.1 1.1 5.2 3.0 6.4 4.1 4.0
2000 2.7 -2.2 1.2 3.8 1.1 6.2 2.6 5.1
2001 2.7 -3.7 0.1 0.5 -1.3 4.5 0.4 6.7
2002 4.1 -1.2 1.7 1.5 -1.4 2.7 -0.2 5.4
2003 3.9 1.2 2.7 3.4 0.0 2.2 0.7 2.6
2004 3.4 2.4 2.9 4.9 1.6 2.4 1.9 1.0
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 BLS. Capital measures are based on data supplied by BEA and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. See also Summary of Methods in this release.
(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. This superlative chain index is computed by
combining changes in the hours of each education, experience,
and gender group weighted by each group's 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 to form a superlative chained index.
Table 5. Real capital input by asset type, private business, 1987-2004
Average annual growth rates (percent)
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2002- 2003-
2004 1990 1995 2000 2004 2003 2004
All Assets 3.8 3.5 3.0 5.5 2.9 2.1 2.5
Equipment 6.1 4.6 4.8 9.3 4.9 3.5 4.0
All Information 11.8 10.8 9.5 17.3 9.0 6.4 7.0
equipment & software
Computers & 24.3 19.3 16.7 40.7 18.8 14.1 15.1
related equipment
Software 14.5 19.1 14.4 17.5 7.6 5.2 5.8
Communications 7.6 6.2 5.4 10.7 7.6 4.9 5.1
equipment
Other IPES 3.4 3.2 4.0 3.2 2.9 3.0 4.0
All other equipment 2.4 1.2 1.8 4.2 1.8 1.1 1.8
Structures 1.9 2.7 1.8 2.0 1.2 0.9 0.9
Residential rental 1.5 2.0 1.1 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.7
capital
Inventories 2.2 2.8 1.8 3.9 0.3 0.8 1.5
Land 1.3 3.0 1.3 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.7
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data,
see Summary of Methods in this release.
Table 6. Real capital input by asset type, private nonfarm business, 1987-2004
Average annual growth rates (percent)
1987- 1987- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2002- 2003-
2004 1990 1995 2000 2004 2003 2004
All Assets 3.9 3.5 3.2 5.6 2.9 2.2 2.4
Equipment 6.2 4.8 5.0 9.5 4.9 3.5 4.0
All Information 11.8 10.7 9.5 17.3 9.0 6.4 7.0
equipment & software
Computers & 24.3 19.3 16.6 40.7 18.8 14.1 15.0
related equipment
Software 14.5 19.1 14.4 17.5 7.6 5.2 5.8
Communications 7.6 6.2 5.4 10.7 7.6 4.9 5.1
equipment
Other IPES 3.3 3.2 4.0 3.2 2.9 3.0 4.0
All other equipment 2.5 1.5 1.9 4.2 1.8 1.1 1.7
Structures 1.9 2.8 1.9 2.0 1.2 0.9 0.9
Residential rental 1.5 2.0 1.1 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.7
capital
Inventories 2.2 2.8 1.8 3.9 0.3 0.8 1.5
Land 1.2 1.8 1.3 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.0
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data,
see Summary of Methods in this release.