For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 9, 2013 USDL- 13-0626

Technical information: (202) 691-5606 • mfpweb@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/mfp 

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

 MULTIFACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS - 2011

Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 1.0 percent annual rate in 2011, the 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1, table A.) The multifactor productivity gain in 2011 

reflected a 2.7 percent increase in output and 1.7 percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor. 

Capital services grew by 0.8 percent, and labor input – which is the combined effect of hours worked and labor 

composition – grew 2.2 percent, the largest gain in the series since 2006. This series began in 1987. (See table A, 

table 1.) Capital services per hour of all persons fell 1.2 percent for the private nonfarm business sector. Prior to 

2011, this measure had increased each year with the exception of 1994, when it was unchanged. 

Multifactor productivity measures the change in output per unit of combined capital and labor input. It is designed 

to measure the joint influences of technological change, efficiency improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of 

resources, and other factors on economic growth, 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. Multifactor productivity includes information on capital services, hours worked, and shifts in 

the composition of labor. Estimates of capital services and labor composition are not included in the quarterly 

labor productivity measures. Additionally, much of the source data needed to construct multifactor productivity 

measures are not available quarterly. 

Private business sector multifactor productivity increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate in 2011, reflecting a 2.4 

percent increase in output and 1.7 percent increase in the combined inputs of capital and labor. The increase in 

combined inputs of capital and labor was the largest since 2007. (See table A, table 2.) 

Chart 1. Output per hour of all persons, multifactor productivity, and output per unit of capital services in 

the private nonfarm business sector, 2000-2011 

 Annual percent change 

-6.0

-4.0

-2.0

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Output per hour of all persons Multifactor productivity Output per unit of capital services
- 2 - 

Historical trends in private nonfarm business 

Multifactor productivity in private nonfarm business grew 0.9 percent annually from 1987 to 2011. (See table A.) 

For the 2007-2011 period, multifactor productivity grew 0.4 percent, due to a 0.1 percent decline in output 

coupled with a 0.5 percent decline in combined inputs. In contrast, the 1.0 percent increase in multifactor 

productivity in 2011 was a result of an increase in output much larger than the increase in combined inputs. 

Output grew 2.7 percent over the year, while combined inputs grew 1.7 percent. (See table 1.) 

Annual labor productivity growth can be viewed as the sum of three components: multifactor productivity growth, 

the contribution of capital intensity, and the contribution of shifts in labor composition. Output per hour shifted 

sharply upwards after the 1990-1995 period. In particular, the contribution of capital intensity to labor 

productivity growth became more pronounced after 1995. (See chart 2, table B.) 

For the 2007-2011 period, the contribution of capital intensity increased at a 1.1 percent annual rate. Output per 

hour of all persons increased at a 1.9 percent annual rate, close to the 2.2 percent annual rate seen during the entire 

1987-2011 period. This was due to multifactor productivity increasing at a 0.4 percent annual rate from 2007 to 

2011, slower than the gains of 1.3 and 1.4 percent that occurred during the 1995-2000 and 2000-2007 periods, 

respectively. (See chart 2, table B.) 

For the 2000-2007 period, information processing equipment and software (IPES) grew 8.1 percent annually in 

the private nonfarm business sector. (See table 5.) For the 2007-2011 period, IPES slowed to a 3.9 percent annual 

rate. For both periods, the rate of IPES was markedly lower than the 17.8 percent increase in the 1995-2000 

period. 

The revised multifactor productivity measure for the most recent year is based on more recent source data than 

were available for the preliminary multifactor productivity release published on May 9, 2012, 

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/prod3_05092012.pdf. Revisions to underlying data affect multifactor 

productivity growth rates for the 2007-2011 period. (See table C.) In 2011, multifactor productivity growth in the 

private nonfarm business sector was 1.0 percent, larger than the 0.5 percent increase previously reported, due to a 

0.3 percentage point upward revision to output and a 0.2 percentage point downward revision to combined inputs. 

For 2010, multifactor productivity growth in the private nonfarm business sector was 2.6 percent, a 0.9 percentage 

point downward revision due to a downward revision to output.

Chart 2. Percentage point contributions to growth in output per hour in the private nonfarm business 

sector, 1987-2011 

Percentage point

Note: Multifactor productivity plus the contributions of capital intensity and labor composition may not 

sum to output per hour due to independent rounding. 

0.9 0.6 0.6

1.2 1.0 1.1

0.3

0.4 0.5

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.9

0.5 0.5

1.3 1.4

0.4

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

1987-2011 1987-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2007 2007-2011

Contribution of capital intensity Contribution of labor composition Multifactor productivity
- 3 - 

Table A. Compound annual growth rates for productivity, output, and inputs in the private nonfarm 

business and private business sectors for selected periods, 1987-2011 

In percent 

1987-

2011

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2011

2010-

2011

Private nonfarm business1

Productivity

 Multifactor Productivity20.9 0.5 0.5 1.3 1.4 0.4 1.0

 Output per hour of all persons 2.2 1.4 1.6 2.7 2.6 1.9 0.7

 Output per unit of capital services -0.7 -0.4 -0.4 -1.0 -0.5 -1.2 1.9

Output 2.8 3.2 2.9 5.0 2.7 -0.1 2.7

Inputs

 Combined inputs31.9 2.7 2.4 3.6 1.3 -0.5 1.7

 Labor Input41.1 2.3 2.0 2.5 0.4 -1.3 2.2

 Hours 0.6 1.7 1.3 2.2 0.1 -1.9 2.0

 Labor composition50.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.2

 Capital services 3.5 3.6 3.3 6.0 3.2 1.1 0.8

Analytic ratio

 Capital services per hour of all persons 2.9 1.8 1.9 3.8 3.1 3.1 -1.2

Private business1

Productivity

 Multifactor Productivity21.0 0.6 0.4 1.5 1.4 0.4 0.7

 Output per hour of all persons 2.2 1.6 1.5 2.9 2.7 1.8 0.4

 Output per unit of capital services -0.6 -0.3 -0.3 -0.8 -0.5 -1.1 1.4

Output 2.8 3.2 2.8 5.0 2.7 -0.1 2.4

Inputs

 Combined inputs31.8 2.6 2.4 3.4 1.2 -0.5 1.7

 Labor Input41.1 2.1 2.0 2.4 0.3 -1.3 2.1

 Hours 0.6 1.6 1.3 2.0 0.0 -1.9 2.0

 Labor composition50.5 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.1

 Capital services 3.4 3.5 3.1 5.8 3.1 1.1 1.0

Analytic ratio

 Capital services per hour of all persons 2.8 1.9 1.8 3.7 3.1 3.0 -1.0

1 Excludes government enterprises. 

2 Output per combined units of labor input and capital services. 

3 The growth rate of each input is weighted by its share of current dollar costs.

4 Hours at work by age, education, and gender group are weighted by each group’s share of the total wage bill. 

5 Ratio of labor input to hours. 
- 4 - 

Table B. Compound annual growth rates in output per hour of all persons and the contributions of 

capital intensity, labor composition, and multifactor productivity in the private nonfarm business and 

private business sectors for selected periods, 1987-2011 

In percent 

1987-

2011

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2011

2010-

2011

Private nonfarm business1

Output per hour of all persons 2.2 1.4 1.6 2.7 2.6 1.9 0.7

Contribution of capital intensity20.9 0.6 0.6 1.2 1.0 1.1 -0.4

 Contribution of information 

 processing equipment and 

 software30.6 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.5 0.4 0.1

 Contribution of all

 other capital services 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.6 -0.5

Contribution of labor composition40.3 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.1

Multifactor productivity5 0.9 0.5 0.5 1.3 1.4 0.4 1.0

 Contribution of R&D to 

 multifactor productivity 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

Private business1

Output per hour of all persons 2.2 1.6 1.5 2.9 2.7 1.8 0.4

Contribution of capital intensity20.9 0.6 0.6 1.2 1.0 1.0 -0.4

 Contribution of information 

 processing equipment and 

 software30.6 0.5 0.4 0.9 0.5 0.4 0.1

 Contribution of all

 other capital services 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.6 -0.4

Contribution of labor composition40.3 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.1

Multifactor productivity51.0 0.6 0.4 1.5 1.4 0.4 0.7

1 Excludes government enterprises. 

2 Capital services per hour multiplied by capital's share of current dollar costs. 

3 Information processing equipment and software per hour multiplied by its share of current dollar costs. 

4 Labor composition multiplied by labor's share of current dollar costs. 

5 Output per combined units of labor input and capital services. 

Note: Multifactor productivity plus contribution of capital intensity and labor composition may not sum to output 

per hour due to independent rounding. Contributions of information processing equipment and all other capital 

services may not sum to the contribution of capital intensity due to independent rounding. 
- 5 - 

Table C. Annual growth rates of the previous and revised multifactor productivity measures in the private 

nonfarm business and private business sectors for the 1987-2011 period 

 

Annual percent change from previous year

Private Nonfarm Business Private Business

Year Previous Revised Previous Revised

1988 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8

1989 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3

1990 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6

1991 -1.0 -1.0 -1.0 -1.0

1992 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.6

1993 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2

1994 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

1995 0.0 0.0 -0.3 -0.3

1996 1.4 1.4 1.7 1.7

1997 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8

1998 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

1999 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8

2000 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7

2001 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8

2002 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4

2003 2.5 2.5 2.7 2.7

2004 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4

2005 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0

2006 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4

2007 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

2008 -1.4 -1.4 -1.2 -1.2

2009 -1.0 -0.4 -0.8 -0.1

2010 3.5 2.6 3.4 2.5

2011 0.5 1.0 0.3 0.7
- 6 - 

Technical Notes 

Capital Services

Capital services are the services derived from the stock of physical assets and software. There are 86 

asset types for fixed business equipment and software, structures, inventories, and land. Data on 

investments in physical assets are obtained from BEA. Data on inventories are estimated using BEA and

additional information from IRS Corporation Income Returns. Data for land in the farm sector are 

obtained from USDA. Nonfarm industry detail for land is based on IRS book value data. Current-dollar 

value-added data, obtained from BEA, are used in estimating capital rental prices. 

Among equipment, BLS provides additional detail in tables 5 and 6 on 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 are rented out by profit-making firms or persons. 

Financial assets are excluded from capital services measures, as are owner-occupied residential 

structures. The aggregate capital services 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. Current-dollar capital costs can be defined as each asset’s rental price multiplied by its 

constant-dollar stock, adjusting for capital composition effects. 

Labor Input

Labor input in private business and private nonfarm business is obtained by chained superlative 

Tornqvist aggregation of the hours at work by all persons, classified by age, education, and gender with 

weights determined by each group’s share of the total wage bill. Hours paid of employees are largely 

obtained from the Current Employment Statistics program (CES). These hours paid are then converted 

to an at-work basis by using information from the Employment Cost Index (ECI) of the National 

Compensation Survey (NCS) benchmarked to the Hours at Work Survey. Hours at work for 

nonproduction and supervisory workers are derived using data from the Current Population Survey 

(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 7, 2013 “Productivity and Costs” news release (USDL-13-0192). 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 Cindy Zoghi, 2007, “Measuring Labor 

Composition: A Comparison of Alternate Methodologies” http://www.bls.gov/bls/fesacp1121407.pdf.
- 7 - 

Combined Inputs 

Labor input and capital services are combined using chained superlative Tornqvist aggregation, applying 

weights that represent each component's share of total costs. The chained superlative Tornqvist index 

uses changing weights; the share in each year is averaged with the preceding year's share. Total costs are 

defined as the value of output 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.

Capital Intensity

Capital intensity is the ratio of capital services to hours worked in the production process. The higher the 

capital to hours ratio, the more capital intensive the production process is. 

In a production process, profit maximizing/cost-minimizing firms adjust the factor proportions of capital 

and labor if the price of one factor falls relative to the price of the other factor; there would be a 

tendency for the firms to substitute the less expensive factor for the more expensive one. In the short 

run, changes in hours worked are more variable than changes in capital services. Changes in hours 

worked in business cycles can result in volatility of the capital intensity ratio over short periods of time. 

In the long run an increase in wages relative to the price of capital will induce the firm to substitute 

capital for labor, resulting in an increase in capital intensity. 

Output

Private business sector output is a chain-type, current-weighted index constructed after excluding from 

gross domestic product (GDP) the following outputs: general government, nonprofit institutions, private 

households (including owner-occupied housing), and government enterprises. This release presents data 

for the private business and private nonfarm business sectors. The private business sector, which 

accounted for approximately 74 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, 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 excludes farms but includes agricultural services. All 

multifactor productivity measures exclude government enterprises, however government enterprises are 

included in the business and nonfarm business sectors covered by the BLS quarterly productivity 

measures. The output measures are based on the revised National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) 

data released by BEA on January 30, 2013. 

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 or capital, or any 

other factor of production. Rather, multifactor productivity is designed to measure the joint influences of 

technological change, efficiency improvements, returns to scale, reallocation of resources, and other 

factors on economic growth, allowing for the effects of capital and labor. 

The multifactor productivity indexes for private business and private nonfarm business are derived by 

dividing an output index by an index of capital services and labor input. The output indexes are 

computed as chained superlative indexes (Fisher Ideal indexes) of components of real output.
- 8 - 

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 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." BLS measures of year-to-year contributions of research and development to the 

private nonfarm business sector and measures of the stock of research and development are available at 

http://www.bls.gov/mfp/rdtable.pdf .

Other Information 

Comprehensive tables containing additional data beyond the scope of this press release are available 

upon request at 202-691-5606 or at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm . More detailed information 

on methods, limitations, and data sources of capital and labor are provided in BLS Bulletin 2178 

(September 1983), “Trends in Multifactor Productivity, 1948-81” and on the BLS Multifactor 

Productivity website under the title “Technical Information About the BLS Multifactor Productivity 

Measures” for Major Sectors and 18 NAICS 3-digit Manufacturing Industries at 

http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprtech.pdf. General information is available on the BLS Multifactor 

Productivity website at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprover.htm. Additional data not contained in the 

release can be obtained in print or at http://www.bls.gov/mfp. A number of comprehensive tables set up 

as zip files can be obtained at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm. Included in the additional data 

available in the home page is a zip file containing selected multifactor productivity data that links 1948-

87 SIC data to NAICS data from 1987 forward. This file includes data for the private business and 

private nonfarm business sectors. 
- 9 - 

Table 1. Private nonfarm business sector: productivity and related measures for the 1987-2011

1 period

Annual percent change from previous year 

Productivity Inputs

Year

Output 

per hour 

of all 

persons

Output 

per unit 

of 

capital

services

Multifactor 

Productivity2 Output3

Labor

Input4

Capital

Services5

Combined 

units of 

labor input 

and 

capital

services6

Capital

services

per hour 

of all 

persons

1988 1.7 0.9 1.0 4.6 3.5 3.6 3.5 0.7

1989 0.8 -0.4 0.0 3.5 3.3 3.9 3.5 1.1

1990 1.9 -1.7 0.4 1.4 0.1 3.2 1.1 3.7

1991 1.7 -3.6 -1.0 -0.9 -1.1 2.8 0.1 5.5

1992 4.0 1.5 2.3 3.8 1.0 2.3 1.4 2.5

1993 0.6 0.4 0.3 3.6 3.3 3.2 3.3 0.3

1994 1.1 1.1 0.7 4.7 4.1 3.6 3.9 0.0

1995 0.5 -1.1 0.0 3.3 2.7 4.4 3.2 1.6

1996 2.6 -0.3 1.4 4.4 2.2 4.8 3.0 2.9

1997 1.5 -0.4 0.6 5.1 4.0 5.5 4.5 1.9

1998 2.9 -1.2 1.5 5.2 2.4 6.4 3.6 4.2

1999 3.3 -1.2 1.7 5.6 2.6 6.9 3.9 4.5

2000 3.4 -2.0 1.6 4.5 1.2 6.5 2.8 5.5

2001 3.1 -3.6 0.7 1.0 -1.6 4.8 0.3 7.0

2002 4.7 -1.3 2.4 1.9 -2.0 3.3 -0.4 6.0

2003 3.8 0.5 2.5 3.1 -0.4 2.7 0.6 3.3

2004 2.6 1.5 2.4 4.0 1.2 2.5 1.6 1.1

2005 1.6 0.4 1.1 3.4 2.0 3.0 2.3 1.2

2006 0.9 -0.1 0.4 3.2 2.5 3.3 2.8 1.0

2007 1.7 -0.8 0.3 2.2 1.2 3.0 1.8 2.5

2008 0.7 -4.0 -1.4 -1.5 -1.5 2.7 -0.1 4.9

2009 3.1 -5.2 -0.4 -4.4 -6.5 0.8 -4.0 8.8

2010 3.1 2.8 2.6 3.1 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.3

2011 0.7 1.9 1.0 2.7 2.2 0.8 1.7 -1.2

 See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 
- 10 - 

Table 2. Private business sector: productivity and related measures for the 1987-2011

1 period

Annual percent change from previous year 

Productivity Inputs

Year

Output 

per hour 

of all 

persons

Output 

per unit 

of 

capital

services

Multifactor 

Productivity2 Output3

Labor

Input4

Capital

Services5

Combined 

units of 

labor input 

and 

capital

services6

Capital

services

per hour 

of all 

persons

1988 1.5 0.5 0.8 4.3 3.4 3.8 3.5 1.0

1989 1.0 -0.1 0.3 3.7 3.2 3.9 3.4 1.2

1990 2.2 -1.4 0.6 1.5 -0.1 3.0 0.9 3.6

1991 1.6 -3.4 -1.0 -0.8 -1.0 2.7 0.2 5.2

1992 4.2 1.8 2.6 4.0 1.0 2.1 1.4 2.3

1993 0.6 0.2 0.2 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.1 0.4

1994 0.9 1.4 0.7 5.0 4.5 3.5 4.2 -0.4

1995 0.1 -1.3 -0.3 2.9 2.7 4.3 3.2 1.4

1996 2.9 0.0 1.7 4.6 2.0 4.6 2.8 2.9

1997 1.8 -0.1 0.8 5.2 3.9 5.3 4.4 1.8

1998 3.0 -1.1 1.5 5.0 2.3 6.2 3.5 4.1

1999 3.5 -1.0 1.8 5.6 2.4 6.7 3.7 4.5

2000 3.5 -1.7 1.7 4.6 1.2 6.3 2.8 5.3

2001 3.2 -3.5 0.8 0.9 -1.8 4.6 0.1 7.0

2002 4.6 -1.2 2.4 2.0 -1.9 3.2 -0.4 5.8

2003 3.9 0.6 2.7 3.2 -0.4 2.6 0.5 3.3

2004 2.8 1.4 2.4 4.1 1.1 2.6 1.6 1.3

2005 1.7 0.3 1.0 3.5 2.0 3.2 2.4 1.4

2006 1.0 -0.1 0.4 3.1 2.4 3.2 2.7 1.0

2007 1.6 -0.7 0.3 2.1 1.2 2.8 1.7 2.3

2008 0.7 -3.7 -1.2 -1.3 -1.4 2.4 -0.1 4.6

2009 3.2 -4.8 -0.1 -4.2 -6.5 0.6 -4.1 8.5

2010 3.0 2.7 2.5 3.0 0.7 0.3 0.5 0.3

2011 0.4 1.4 0.7 2.4 2.1 1.0 1.7 -1.0

 See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 
- 11 - 

Table 3. Private nonfarm business sector: indexes of productivity and related measures, 1987-2011

1

Indexes 2005=100 

Productivity Inputs

Year

Output 

per hour 

of all 

persons

Output 

per unit 

of 

capital

services

Multifactor 

Productivity2 Output3

Labor

Input4

Capital

Services5

Combined 

units of 

labor input 

and 

capital

services6

Capital 

services 

per hour 

of all 

persons

1987 66.3 111.1 82.3 54.2 75.5 48.8 65.9 59.6

1988 67.4 112.2 83.1 56.7 78.2 50.6 68.3 60.0

1989 67.9 111.8 83.1 58.7 80.8 52.6 70.7 60.7

1990 69.2 109.9 83.5 59.6 80.8 54.2 71.4 62.9

1991 70.3 105.9 82.7 59.1 79.9 55.8 71.5 66.4

1992 73.1 107.5 84.6 61.3 80.7 57.0 72.5 68.0

1993 73.6 107.9 84.8 63.5 83.4 58.9 74.9 68.2

1994 74.4 109.1 85.5 66.5 86.9 61.0 77.8 68.2

1995 74.7 107.9 85.5 68.7 89.2 63.7 80.3 69.3

1996 76.7 107.5 86.7 71.7 91.1 66.7 82.8 71.3

1997 77.8 107.1 87.2 75.4 94.8 70.4 86.5 72.6

1998 80.1 105.9 88.4 79.3 97.1 74.9 89.7 75.7

1999 82.7 104.6 89.9 83.8 99.6 80.1 93.2 79.1

2000 85.6 102.6 91.4 87.5 100.8 85.3 95.8 83.4

2001 88.3 98.9 92.0 88.4 99.2 89.3 96.0 89.2

2002 92.4 97.6 94.2 90.1 97.2 92.3 95.6 94.6

2003 95.8 98.1 96.6 92.9 96.9 94.7 96.2 97.7

2004 98.4 99.6 98.9 96.7 98.1 97.1 97.7 98.8

2005 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2006 100.9 99.9 100.4 103.2 102.5 103.3 102.8 101.0

2007 102.6 99.1 100.7 105.4 103.8 106.4 104.7 103.6

2008 103.3 95.1 99.3 103.9 102.2 109.3 104.6 108.6

2009 106.5 90.1 98.9 99.3 95.6 110.2 100.4 118.2

2010 109.8 92.7 101.5 102.3 96.2 110.4 100.9 118.5

2011 110.6 94.4 102.5 105.1 98.3 111.4 102.6 117.1

See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 
- 12 - 

Table 4. Private business sector: indexes of productivity and related measures, 1987-2011

1

Indexes 2005=100 

Productivity Inputs

Year

Output 

per hour 

of all 

persons

Output 

per unit 

of 

capital

services

Multifactor 

Productivity2 Output3

Labor

Input4

Capital

Services5

Combined 

units of 

labor input

and 

capital

services6

Capital 

services 

per hour 

of all 

persons

1987 65.4 109.0 81.3 54.2 76.4 49.7 66.6 60.0

1988 66.4 109.6 82.0 56.5 78.9 51.6 69.0 60.6

1989 67.1 109.4 82.2 58.6 81.5 53.6 71.3 61.3

1990 68.6 107.9 82.7 59.5 81.4 55.2 72.0 63.6

1991 69.7 104.2 81.9 59.1 80.5 56.7 72.1 66.9

1992 72.6 106.1 84.0 61.4 81.4 57.9 73.1 68.4

1993 73.1 106.4 84.2 63.4 83.9 59.7 75.3 68.7

1994 73.8 107.8 84.8 66.6 87.7 61.8 78.5 68.4

1995 73.8 106.4 84.6 68.5 90.0 64.4 81.0 69.4

1996 76.0 106.4 86.0 71.7 91.8 67.3 83.3 71.4

1997 77.3 106.4 86.7 75.4 95.4 70.9 86.9 72.7

1998 79.6 105.2 88.0 79.2 97.6 75.3 90.0 75.7

1999 82.4 104.1 89.6 83.6 99.9 80.3 93.3 79.1

2000 85.3 102.4 91.2 87.4 101.1 85.4 95.9 83.3

2001 88.0 98.8 91.9 88.3 99.3 89.3 96.0 89.1

2002 92.1 97.7 94.1 90.0 97.4 92.1 95.7 94.3

2003 95.7 98.3 96.6 92.9 97.0 94.5 96.1 97.4

2004 98.4 99.7 99.0 96.7 98.1 96.9 97.7 98.6

2005 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2006 101.0 99.9 100.4 103.1 102.4 103.2 102.7 101.0

2007 102.6 99.2 100.8 105.2 103.6 106.1 104.4 103.4

2008 103.3 95.6 99.5 103.8 102.1 108.7 104.3 108.1

2009 106.6 91.0 99.4 99.5 95.5 109.4 100.1 117.3

2010 109.9 93.4 101.8 102.5 96.1 109.7 100.6 117.6

2011 110.3 94.8 102.5 105.0 98.2 110.8 102.4 116.4

See footnotes following table 4. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
- 13 - 

Footnotes, Tables 1-4

Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops productivity measures using output and 

compensation data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), hours data published by other 

BLS programs, and capital data supplied by BEA and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Also see 

Technical Notes in this release. 

(1) The private business sector covers gross domestic product with the exception of the output of 

general government, government enterprises, non-profit institutions, the rental value of owneroccupied real estate, and the output of paid employees of private households. The private nonfarm 

business sector further excludes farms but includes agricultural services. 

(2) Output per combined units of labor input and capital services. 

(3) Gross domestic product originating in the sector, chained superlative index. 

(4) Index of hours at work of all persons including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family 

workers, classified by age, education, and gender. This chained superlative index is computed by 

combining changes in the hours of each age, education, and gender group weighted by each group’s 

share of the total wage bill. 

(5) A measure of the flow of capital services used in the sector. Capital services measure the services 

 derived from the stock of physical assets and software. The assets included are fixed business 

 equipment, structures, inventories, and land.

(6) The growth rates of labor input and capital services are combined by weighting with their respective 

 shares of current dollar costs, and aggregating into a chained superlative index. 
- 14 - 

Table 5. Compound average annual growth rates in real capital services by asset type, private nonfarm 

business sector, 1987-2011

In percent 

1987-

2011

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2011

2010-

2011

All Assets 3.5 3.6 3.3 6.0 3.2 1.1 0.8

Equipment 5.4 4.8 5.1 10.0 5.0 1.4 1.1

 All Information Processing 

Equipment & Software (IPES) 10.0 11.0 9.6 17.8 8.1 3.9 3.0

Computers & related 

equipment 19.0 19.2 16.1 40.7 13.8 7.6 4.7

Software 11.3 17.8 13.4 16.8 8.0 3.5 3.1

Communication equipment 6.8 6.0 5.3 10.7 7.1 4.0 3.3

Other IPES 3.0 2.8 4.0 3.5 3.0 1.5 1.0

All other equipment 1.9 2.2 1.9 3.2 1.9 0.4 0.3

Structures 1.9 3.0 2.0 2.2 1.5 1.3 0.6

Residential rental capital 1.1 1.9 1.0 1.6 1.4 -0.2 -0.6

Inventories 2.2 3.4 2.2 4.2 1.8 -0.7 3.5

Land 1.4 1.6 1.2 1.7 1.4 1.3 0.5

Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data, see Technical Notes in this release. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 
- 15 - 

Table 6. Compound average annual growth rates in real capital services by asset type, private business 

sector, 1987-2011 

In percent 

1987-

2011

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2011

2010-

2011

All Assets 3.4 3.5 3.1 5.8 3.1 1.1 1.0

Equipment 5.3 4.6 4.9 9.8 4.9 1.4 1.1

All Information Processing 

Equipment &Software (IPES) 10.0 11.0 9.6 17.8 8.1 3.9 3.0

Computers & related 

equipment 19.0 19.2 16.1 40.7 13.8 7.6 4.7

Software 11.3 17.8 13.4 16.8 7.9 3.5 3.1

Communication equipment 6.8 6.0 5.3 10.7 7.1 4.0 3.3

Other IPES 3.1 2.9 4.0 3.6 3.1 1.5 1.1

All other equipment 1.9 2.2 1.8 3.0 1.8 0.4 0.5

Structures 1.9 2.9 1.9 2.2 1.5 1.3 0.6

Residential rental capital 1.1 1.9 1.0 1.6 1.4 -0.2 -0.6

Inventories 2.0 2.9 2.2 4.1 1.7 -0.7 3.1

Land 1.4 2.9 1.3 1.3 1.3 0.7 1.8

Note: For a brief discussion of methods used in preparing these data, see Technical Notes in this release. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics