For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, May 26, 2011 USDL-11-0762

Technical Information: (202) 691-5618 • dipsweb@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/lpc 

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov

PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS BY INDUSTRY: 

SELECTED SERVICE-PROVIDING AND MINING INDUSTRIES, 2009 

Labor productivity – defined as output per hour – rose in 44 percent of the 52 detailed serviceproviding and mining industries studied in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 

This was down from 56 percent in 2008 and from 65 percent in 2007. Unit labor costs, which reflect 

the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, declined in 33 percent of the industries in 2009, 

compared to 31 percent in 2008. 

Output and hours also rose in fewer industries in 2009 than in the previous two years. (See chart 1.) 

Output rose in only 6 of the 52 service-providing and mining industries in 2009, while hours increased 

in 7. (See table 1.) In over one quarter of the industries studied, output and hours both declined at 

double-digit rates. 

 

Industry labor productivity measures are updated as data become available. Productivity measures for 

industries in other sectors can be accessed on the BLS Labor Productivity and Costs web site at 

www.bls.gov/lpc. 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2007 2008 2009

Percent of Industries

Increasing Productivity Increasing Output Increasing Hours

Chart 1. Percent of service-providing and mining industries with increases in productivity, 

output and hours, 2007-2009
- 2 -

In 2009, output per hour increased in 21 of the 47 detailed service-providing industries and in two of the 

five detailed mining industries studied. (See table 1.) Although productivity changes varied widely

among the service-providing and mining industries, almost all of the increases in productivity involved 

declines in hours. Of the 52 detailed industries studied, only medical laboratories produced productivity 

gains accompanied by an increase in hours. 

Declining hours resulted in productivity increases in some industries where output was falling, as well as

in industries where output was expanding. Productivity increased the most in photofinishing and in 

wireless telecommunications carriers. Output of wireless telecommunications carriers increased while 

output in photofinishing fell; however both industries posted double-digit declines in hours. Productivity 

declined the most in the truck, trailer and RV rental and leasing industry, where hours fell but output fell

much more. 

Productivity rose in the overall mining sector and in the oil and gas extraction and metal ore mining 

industries in 2009, but declined in coal mining, in nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying, and in 

support activities for mining. Hours fell in all of the mining industries. 

Chart 2 shows the change in productivity in the 20 largest (by employment) service-providing and 

mining industries. Among these industries, drinking places (alcoholic beverages) recorded the largest 

productivity increase, as hours fell more than twice as fast as output. Support activities for mining, 

where both output and hours fell by double digits, recorded the largest productivity decline.

Unit labor costs rose in 31 of 47 service-providing industries and in 3 of 5 mining industries in 2009. 

Unit labor costs declined the most in photofinishing and in oil and gas extraction. 

 

3.8

2.2

2.2

1.7

1.4

1.2

0.3

0.1

-1.6

-1.9

-2.4

-3.7

-4.5

-4.7

-4.9

-5.2

-5.2

-5.4

-6.0

-6.2

-20.0 -15.0 -10.0 -5.0 0.0 5.0

Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)

General warehousing and storage

Commercial banking

Wired telecommunications carriers

Postal service

Limited-service eating places

Full-service restaurants

Air transportation

Newspaper, book, and directory publishers

Traveler accommodation

Power generation and supply

Janitorial services

General freight trucking, local

Automotive repair and maintenance

Couriers and messengers

Special food services

General freight trucking, long-distance

Engineering services

Hair, nail, and skin care services

Support activities for mining

Percent change

Chart 2. Percent change in output per hour in the largest (by employment) service-providing and 

mining industries, 2008-2009
- 3 -

The industry productivity performance in 2009 contrasts with the more positive industry productivity 

performance over the longer term. Between 1987 and 2009, labor productivity increased in 83 percent of 

the detailed service-providing and mining industries and unit labor costs declined in 19 percent of the 

industries. Chart 3 below shows a more negative distribution of productivity growth rates in 2009 

compared to those for the longer-term period from 1987 to 2009. 

With this release, productivity and cost measures are published for the first time for truck transportation. 

This industry includes both the general freight trucking industry and the specialized freight trucking 

industry. Trends in truck transportation are strongly affected by business cycles and the overall 

economic environment. Output per hour in the truck transportation industry rose at a moderate rate of 

about 1.0 percent per year on average between 2001 and 2007, but declined 4.5 percent in 2009. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

Number of Industries

Percent change

1987-2009

2008-2009

Chart 3. Distribution of annual percent change in output per hour, 1987-2009 and 2008-2009: 

52 industries in mining and services
- 4 -

Technical Note

Labor Productivity: The industry labor productivity measures describe the relationship between 

industry 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. Although the labor productivity measures 

relate output to hours of all persons in an industry, they do not measure the specific contribution of labor 

or any other factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of many influences, including 

changes in technology; capital investment; utilization of capacity, energy, and materials; the use of 

purchased services inputs, including contract employment services; the organization of production; 

managerial skill; and the characteristics and effort of the workforce.

Output: Industry output is measured as an annual-weighted index of the changes in the various products 

(in real terms) provided for sale outside the industry. Real industry output is usually derived by deflating 

nominal sales or values of production using BLS price indexes, but for some industries it is measured by 

physical quantities of output. 

Industry output measures are constructed primarily using data from the economic censuses and annual 

surveys of the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, together with information on price 

changes primarily from BLS. Output measures for some mining and utilities industries are based on 

physical quantity data from the Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, while 

output measures for some transportation industries are based on physical quantity data from the Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation. Other data sources for some industries 

include the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior; the U.S. Postal Service; the Postal 

Rate Commission; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Labor Hours: The primary source of industry employment and hours data is the BLS Current 

Employment Statistics (CES) survey. The CES provides monthly data on the number of total and 

nonsupervisory worker jobs held by wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments, as well as data 

on the average weekly hours of nonsupervisory workers in those establishments. CES and CPS data are 

supplemented or further disaggregated for some industries using data from the BLS Quarterly Census of 

Employment and Wages (QCEW), the Census Bureau, or other sources. Data from the Current 

Population Survey (CPS) are used together with CES data to estimate the historical average weekly 

hours of supervisory workers for each industry. The CPS data are also used to estimate the employment 

and hours of self-employed and unpaid family workers in each industry. Other sources of employment 

and hours data for some service industries include the Association of American Railroads, the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Postal Service. Hours of all workers in an industry are 

treated as homogeneous and are directly aggregated. 

Unit Labor Costs: Unit labor costs represent the cost of labor required to produce one unit of output. 

The unit labor cost indexes are computed by dividing an index of industry labor compensation by an 

index of real industry output. Unit labor costs also describe the relationship between compensation per 

hour and real output per hour (labor productivity). Increases in hourly compensation increase unit labor 

costs; increases in labor productivity offset compensation increases and lower unit labor costs. 

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. 
- 5 -

Payments for voluntary programs include all programs not specifically required by legislation, such as 

the employer portion of private health insurance and pension plans. 

Revisions: This news release incorporates data from the 2009 Service Annual Survey (SAS) and the 

November 2010 Subject Series Revision of the 2007 Economic Census, both published by the Census 

Bureau. The labor productivity and output series for all industries have been revised for 2008 and earlier 

years as a result. This news release also incorporates the annual benchmark revision of the BLS Current 

Employment Statistics (CES) survey published in February 2011. The industries included in this release 

are classified according to the 2007 NAICS. All of the measures for 2009 in this release are preliminary 

and subject to revision. 

Additional Information: While the rates of change reported by BLS in this news release are rounded to 

one decimal place, all industry productivity percent changes are calculated using index numbers rounded 

to three decimal places. 

Year-to-year movements in industry productivity may be erratic, particularly in smaller industries. The 

annual measures based on sample data may differ from measures generated by a census of 

establishments in the industry. Annual changes in an industry’s output and use of labor may reflect 

cyclical changes in the economy as well as long-term trends. As a result, long-term productivity trends 

tend to be more reliable indicators of industry performance than year-to-year changes.

Industry productivity and related indexes and rates of change can be accessed online by visiting the 

Labor Productivity and Costs web site at www.bls.gov/lpc. Levels of industry employment, hours, labor 

compensation, and value of production, and the implicit price deflator for output for these industries, are 

available by calling the Division of Industry Productivity Studies (202-691-5618) or by sending an 

e-mail to dipsweb@bls.gov. 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. 

To subscribe to the industry productivity program’s electronic notification service, send an e-mail to 

dipsnews@bls.gov with the word “subscribe” in the subject line. 
2009 

NAICS Industry Employment Output Labor Unit labor

code (thousands) per hour Output Hours compensation costs

Mining Industries

21 Mining 661 14.2 0.4 -12.1 -11.1 -11.4

211 Oil and gas extraction 162 6.3 5.4 -0.9 -5.1 -10.0

2111 Oil and gas extraction 162 6.3 5.4 -0.9 -5.1 -10.0

212 Mining, except oil and gas 212 -2.4 -13.6 -11.5 -6.6 8.1

2121 Coal mining 82 -6.2 -8.8 -2.7 2.4 12.2

2122 Metal ore mining 35 11.0 -11.5 -20.3 -15.1 -4.1

2123 Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying 95 -6.8 -21.3 -15.5 -11.9 11.9

213 Support activities for mining 287 -6.2 -22.6 -17.5 -19.3 4.3

2131 Support activities for mining 287 -6.2 -22.6 -17.5 -19.3 4.3

Utilities

2211 Power generation and supply 404 -2.4 -3.6 -1.3 2.7 6.6

2212 Natural gas distribution 109 -3.8 -2.1 1.8 5.4 7.7

Transportation and Warehousing

481 Air transportation 399 0.1 -6.5 -6.6 -0.3 6.6

482111 Line-haul railroads 172 -3.9 -17.2 -13.8 -5.9 13.6

484 Truck Transportation 1501 -4.5 -14.4 -10.4 -11.7 3.1

4841 General freight trucking 1096 -5.0 -14.8 -10.3 -12.2 3.0

48411 General freight trucking, local 289 -4.5 -14.7 -10.7 -11.4 3.9

48412 General freight trucking, long-distance 807 -5.2 -14.8 -10.1 -12.5 2.7

48421 Used household and office goods moving 86 -0.3 -16.8 -16.6 -11.6 6.4

491 Postal service 703 1.4 -11.7 -12.9 -7.3 5.0

4911 Postal service 703 1.4 -11.7 -12.9 -7.3 5.0

492 Couriers and messengers 579 -4.9 -11.0 -6.3 -10.9 0.0

493 Warehousing and storage 645 1.4 -4.0 -5.4 -3.6 0.4

4931 Warehousing and storage 645 1.4 -4.0 -5.4 -3.6 0.4

49311 General warehousing and storage 538 2.2 -3.6 -5.7 -3.9 -0.3

49312 Refrigerated warehousing and storage 51 -8.4 -2.6 6.2 -1.4 1.2

Information

511 Publishing 833 1.3 -8.0 -9.2 -6.1 2.1

5111 Newspaper, book, and directory publishers 576 -1.6 -14.2 -12.8 -10.1 4.8

5112 Software publishers 258 -0.8 -1.8 -1.0 -1.4 0.4

51213 Motion picture and video exhibition 134 6.6 1.3 -5.0 2.6 1.3

515 Broadcasting, except internet 316 1.7 -1.7 -3.3 -4.0 -2.4

5151 Radio and television broadcasting 227 -0.1 -4.1 -4.0 -7.9 -4.0

5152 Cable and other subscription programming 89 2.6 0.7 -1.8 6.8 6.1

5171 Wired telecommunications carriers 643 1.7 -2.9 -4.6 -0.5 2.5

5172 Wireless telecommunications carriers 192 24.3 6.4 -14.4 0.0 -6.0

Finance and Insurance

52211 Commercial banking 1317 2.2 -0.6 -2.8 9.6 10.2

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

532111 Passenger car rental 106 -4.1 -16.0 -12.4 -13.0 3.6

53212 Truck, trailer and RV rental and leasing 58 -13.3 -14.3 -1.2 -6.6 9.1

53223 Video tape and disc rental 88 8.4 -15.9 -22.4 -16.2 -0.4

Professional and Technical Services

541213 Tax preparation services 149 -2.3 -1.0 1.4 -4.8 -3.8

54131 Architectural services 194 -1.2 -20.1 -19.1 -20.7 -0.8

54133 Engineering services 917 -5.4 -11.9 -6.9 -2.8 10.4

54181 Advertising agencies 184 1.9 -5.6 -7.3 -8.3 -2.9

541921 Photography studios, portrait 74 -5.8 -4.7 1.2 -5.7 -1.1

Administrative and Waste Services

561311 Employment placement agencies 219 0.3 -16.4 -16.7 -21.3 -5.9

56151 Travel agencies 100 2.8 -14.9 -17.2 -18.8 -4.6

56172 Janitorial services 1214 -3.7 -7.5 -4.0 -1.4 6.7

Health Care and Social Assistance

6215 Medical and diagnostic laboratories 232 2.7 4.3 1.6 5.4 1.1

621511 Medical laboratories 155 5.0 6.7 1.6 4.8 -1.7

621512 Diagnostic imaging centers 76 -0.7 1.0 1.7 6.9 5.9

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

71311 Amusement and theme parks 136 -7.8 -7.9 -0.1 -4.7 3.5

71395 Bowling centers 72 -2.9 -7.6 -4.8 -1.8 6.2

Table 1. Percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 2008-2009

Percent change, 2008-2009
2009 

NAICS Industry Employment Output Labor Unit labor

code (thousands) per hour Output Hours compensation costs

Accommodation and Food Services

72 Accommodation and food services 11412 -0.6 -4.9 -4.4 -3.5 1.5

721 Accommodation 1793 -1.6 -8.6 -7.1 -8.2 0.4

7211 Traveler accommodation 1719 -1.9 -9.0 -7.2 -8.4 0.6

722 Food services and drinking places 9619 0.3 -3.5 -3.8 -1.9 1.6

7221 Full-service restaurants 4511 0.3 -3.5 -3.8 -2.0 1.6

7222 Limited-service eating places 4098 1.2 -2.5 -3.6 -0.2 2.3

7223 Special food services 653 -5.2 -8.3 -3.2 -8.0 0.2

7224 Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) 358 3.8 -2.7 -6.3 0.0 2.8

Other Services

8111 Automotive repair and maintenance 1074 -4.7 -9.2 -4.7 -3.6 6.1

81142 Reupholstery and furniture repair 22 -2.7 -15.6 -13.3 -13.9 2.0

81211 Hair, nail and skin care services 956 -6.0 -2.9 3.3 3.4 6.4

81221 Funeral homes and funeral services 104 1.6 -5.0 -6.5 -4.4 0.6

8123 Drycleaning and laundry services 340 10.1 -3.2 -12.1 -6.7 -3.6

81231 Coin-operated laundries and drycleaners 44 7.7 -4.0 -10.9 -12.1 -8.4

81232 Drycleaning and laundry services 167 11.6 -5.7 -15.5 -8.4 -2.8

81233 Linen and uniform supply 129 8.5 -0.9 -8.6 -4.3 -3.4

81292 Photofinishing 19 24.7 -5.6 -24.3 -17.2 -12.3

Table 1. Percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 2008-2009

Percent change, 2008-2009
NAICS Industry Output Labor Unit labor

code per hour Output Hours compensation costs

Mining Industries

21 Mining 0.2 -0.2 -0.4 4.6 4.8

211 Oil and gas extraction 0.7 -0.5 -1.2 5.2 5.7

2111 Oil and gas extraction 0.7 -0.5 -1.2 5.2 5.7

212 Mining, except oil and gas 1.8 0.2 -1.6 1.9 1.7

2121 Coal mining 2.0 -0.3 -2.3 0.7 1.1

2122 Metal ore mining 2.4 1.7 -0.7 4.0 2.2

2123 Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying 0.7 -0.5 -1.2 2.7 3.2

213 Support activities for mining 2.6 4.1 1.4 7.5 3.3

2131 Support activities for mining 2.6 4.1 1.4 7.5 3.3

Utilities

2211 Power generation and supply 2.2 0.9 -1.3 2.8 1.9

2212 Natural gas distribution 2.5 1.1 -1.3 3.4 2.3

Transportation and Warehousing

481 Air transportation 2.8 2.7 -0.1 2.8 0.1

482111 Line-haul railroads 4.0 1.4 -2.4 0.9 -0.5

484 Truck Transportation 1/ 0.1 1.2 1.1 2.4 1.2

4841 General freight trucking 1/ 0.8 1.8 1.0 3.2 1.4

48411 General freight trucking, local 1/ 2.3 3.1 0.7 3.8 0.7

48412 General freight trucking, long-distance 0.9 1.9 0.9 2.3 0.4

48421 Used household and office goods moving -0.5 -1.0 -0.4 1.9 2.9

491 Postal service 1.0 0.1 -0.8 3.5 3.4

4911 Postal service 1.0 0.1 -0.8 3.5 3.4

492 Couriers and messengers -0.4 1.6 2.0 4.2 2.6

493 Warehousing and storage 1/ 2.6 5.5 2.8 5.5 0.0

4931 Warehousing and storage 1/ 2.6 5.5 2.8 5.5 0.0

49311 General warehousing and storage 1/ 5.0 7.9 2.8 6.0 -1.7

49312 Refrigerated warehousing and storage 1/ -0.6 2.8 3.4 4.4 1.6

Information

511 Publishing 3.7 3.6 -0.1 5.2 1.5

5111 Newspaper, book, and directory publishers -0.1 -1.6 -1.5 2.7 4.4

5112 Software publishers 13.9 20.9 6.2 11.7 -7.7

51213 Motion picture and video exhibition 1.6 2.0 0.4 3.6 1.6

515 Broadcasting, except internet 1.6 2.5 0.9 4.8 2.2

5151 Radio and television broadcasting 0.5 0.4 -0.1 3.6 3.2

5152 Cable and other subscription programming 3.5 7.9 4.2 10.7 2.6

5171 Wired telecommunications carriers 4.1 3.4 -0.7 2.5 -0.9

5172 Wireless telecommunications carriers 10.2 21.8 10.5 14.0 -6.3

Finance and Insurance

52211 Commercial banking 3.6 3.5 -0.1 5.6 2.0

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

532111 Passenger car rental 1.8 2.2 0.4 4.7 2.5

53212 Truck, trailer and RV rental and leasing 2.9 2.1 -0.8 3.1 0.9

53223 Video tape and disc rental 4.3 3.2 -1.0 2.3 -0.9

Professional and Technical Services

541213 Tax preparation services 0.4 2.9 2.5 4.2 1.3

54131 Architectural services 1.3 2.6 1.2 4.6 2.0

54133 Engineering services 1.2 3.0 1.8 6.4 3.3

54181 Advertising agencies 1.8 2.0 0.1 4.4 2.4

541921 Photography studios, portrait -0.2 2.0 2.2 4.2 2.2

Administrative and Waste Services

561311 Employment placement agencies 2/ 6.8 6.9 0.1 5.3 -1.5

56151 Travel agencies 5.5 3.6 -1.8 2.9 -0.6

56172 Janitorial services 1.9 3.6 1.7 5.6 1.9

Health Care and Social Assistance

6215 Medical and diagnostic laboratories 2/ 3.7 6.7 2.8 6.1 -0.6

621511 Medical laboratories 2/ 3.3 5.8 2.4 5.4 -0.4

621512 Diagnostic imaging centers 2/ 4.1 8.2 4.0 7.7 -0.4

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

71311 Amusement and theme parks -0.3 2.5 2.7 6.0 3.5

71395 Bowling centers 0.2 -1.8 -2.0 1.2 3.0

Table 2. Average annual percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 1987-2009

Average annual percent change, 1987-2009
NAICS Industry Output Labor Unit labor

code per hour Output Hours compensation costs

Accommodation and Food Services

72 Accommodation and food services 0.8 2.1 1.2 5.0 2.9

721 Accommodation 1.5 2.3 0.8 4.6 2.2

7211 Traveler accommodation 1.6 2.4 0.8 4.6 2.2

722 Food services and drinking places 0.6 2.0 1.4 5.2 3.1

7221 Full-service restaurants 0.6 2.0 1.4 6.0 3.9

7222 Limited-service eating places 0.6 2.2 1.6 5.1 2.8

7223 Special food services 1.4 2.4 0.9 3.5 1.1

7224 Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) -0.4 -0.8 -0.4 2.2 3.0

Other Services

8111 Automotive repair and maintenance 0.7 1.1 0.4 3.7 2.6

81142 Reupholstery and furniture repair -0.7 -3.2 -2.4 0.3 3.6

81211 Hair, nail and skin care services 1.9 2.9 0.9 5.3 2.3

81221 Funeral homes and funeral services -0.6 -0.5 0.0 3.9 4.5

8123 Drycleaning and laundry services 1.3 0.4 -0.9 2.7 2.3

81231 Coin-operated laundries and drycleaners 2.1 0.3 -1.7 2.4 2.0

81232 Drycleaning and laundry services 1.0 -0.9 -1.9 1.3 2.2

81233 Linen and uniform supply 0.7 1.6 0.9 4.2 2.6

81292 Photofinishing 1.5 -5.0 -6.4 -3.0 2.1

1/ For NAICS industries 484, 4841, 48411, 493, 4931, 49311, and 49312, average annual percent changes are for 1992-2009.

2/ For NAICS industries 561311, 6215, 621511, and 621512, average annual percent changes are for 1994-2009.

Table 2. Average annual percent change in output per hour, output, hours, compensation, and unit labor costs, 1987-2009

Average annual percent change, 1987-2009