For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 23, 2019 USDL-19-0694

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

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

MULTIFACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS IN MANUFACTURING - 2017

Manufacturing sector multifactor productivity declined 1.4 percent in 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics reported today. (See chart 1, table A.) The multifactor productivity decline in 2017 reflected a 0.4-

percent increase in sectoral output and a 1.9-percent increase in combined inputs. The decrease in multifactor 

productivity followed a 2.8-percent decrease in 2016. 

Multifactor productivity is calculated by dividing an index of real sectoral output by an index of combined units

of labor input, capital services, and intermediate inputs. Multifactor productivity annual measures differ from BLS 

quarterly labor productivity or output per hour measures because the former also includes information on capital 

services, shifts in the composition of the workforce, and intermediate inputs. 

Durable manufacturing sector multifactor productivity decreased 3.2 percent in 2017. The decline reflected a 

0.3-percent increase in sectoral output and a 3.7-percent increase in combined inputs. Nondurable 

manufacturing sector multifactor productivity increased 0.5 percent in 2017. The increase reflected no change 

in sectoral output and a 0.5-percent decrease in combined inputs. (See table C, table 3.) 

Chart 1. Multifactor productivity in the manufacturing, durable manufacturing, and nondurable 

manufacturing sectors, 1987-2017

Annual percent change 

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Manufacturing Durable manufacturing Nondurable manufacturing

2012 NAICS Reclassification

All index series have been updated and reflect industry definitions consistent with the 2012 North American 

Industry Classification System (NAICS). As a result, all indexes for the manufacturing, durable, and 

nondurable measures are rebased to 2012=100 to reflect the new definitions.
- 2 - 

Among the 18 manufacturing industries, 13 experienced declines in multifactor productivity in 2017. The largest

declines in multifactor productivity were in the apparel, leather, and allied products industry and the 

transportation equipment industry. Printing and related support activities and petroleum and coal products 

industries showed the largest gains in multifactor productivity. Sectoral output increased in 5 industries and 

combined inputs increased in 9 industries in 2017. (See chart 2, table 3.) 

Chart 2. Manufacturing industries’ trends in multifactor productivity, sectoral output, and combined

inputs, 2017 

Chart 3 displays the contributions of three-digit manufacturing industries to manufacturing sector multifactor 

productivity. Contributions take into account the relative importance of each industry to the manufacturing sector

multifactor productivity. Transportation equipment made the largest negative contribution to manufacturing 

multifactor productivity. Petroleum and coal products made the largest positive contribution to manufacturing 

multifactor productivity in 2017, partially offsetting the overall productivity decline. 

Chart 3. Contributions of manufacturing industries to manufacturing sector multifactor productivity, 2017 

Note: The contributions of manufacturing industries may not sum to manufacturing sector multifactor productivity due to independent rounding.

-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

 Apparel and Leather and Applied Products

 Transportation Equipment

 Computer and Electronic Products

 Primary Metal Products

 Fabricated Metal Products

 Nonmetallic Mineral Products

 Electrical Equipment, Appliances, and Components

 Food and Beverage and Tobacco Products

 Textile Mills and Textile Product Mills

 Wood Products

 Furniture and Related Products

 Paper Products

 Miscellaneous Manufacturing

 Machinery

 Chemical Products

 Plastics and Rubber Products

 Petroleum and Coal Products

 Printing and Related Support Activities

Percent Change

MFP Output Combined Inputs

-1.2 -1.0 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4

 Transportation Equipment

 Computer and Electronic Products

 Primary Metals

 Fabricated Metal Products

 Food and Beverage and Tobacco Products

 Apparel and Leather and Applied Products

 Electrical Equipment, Appliances, and Components

 Nonmetallic Mineral Products

 Wood Products

 Paper Products

 Textile Mills and Textile Product Mills

 Furniture and Related Products

 Miscellaneous Manufacturing

 Machinery

 Plastics and Rubber Products

 Printing and Related Support Activities

 Chemical Products

 Petroleum and Coal Products
- 3 - 

Trends in the manufacturing sector

Manufacturing sectoral output grew in 2017 with an annual increase of 0.4 percent compared to the 0.1-percent 

decline in 2016. The 1.9-percent increase in combined inputs was driven by a 1.1-percent growth in materials. 

(See table 1.) 

Multifactor productivity in the manufacturing sector grew at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent from 1987 to 

2017 with sectoral output increasing at an average annual rate of 1.6 percent, faster than the 0.9-percent average 

annual rate of increase in combined inputs. During the same period, labor productivity grew at an average annual 

rate of 2.7 percent. (See table A.) Of the 2.7-percent average annual increase in labor productivity, multifactor 

productivity contributed 0.6 percentage points, capital intensity contributed 0.7 percentage points, intermediate 

inputs intensity contributed 1.1 percentage points, and labor composition contributed 0.2 percentage points. (See 

table B.)

For the most recent 2007-17 period, multifactor productivity declined at a 0.7-percent average annual rate as 

compared to an increase of 1.8 percent during the 2000-07 period. (See table A.) Sectoral output decreased at a

0.4-percent annual average rate and combined inputs rose at a 0.3-percent annual average rate over the 2007-17 

period. 

Revised measures

Annual rates of multifactor productivity and related series were revised historically for all three sectors. (See table 

D.) The revisions were a result of Comprehensive Update of the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) 

released on July 27, 2018 and the Gross Domestic Product by Industry data released on November 1, 2018. 

Over the 1987-2016 period, manufacturing multifactor productivity growth was unrevised. It was previously 

reported as 0.7 percent. Revisions over the 1987-2016 period resulted in a 0.1-percentage point downward revision 

to multifactor productivity in nondurable manufacturing, with a 0.1-percentage point upward revision to 

multifactor productivity growth in durable manufacturing. 

In 2016, multifactor productivity in the manufacturing sector was revised upward 0.4 percentage points, the 

upward revision was due to 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent downward revisions to combined inputs and sectoral 

output respectively. Multifactor productivity was revised upward 1.0 percent in the durable manufacturing sector 

and downward 0.3 percent in the nondurable manufacturing sector. Materials were revised downward 4.3 percent 

in manufacturing, 4.9 percent in durable manufacturing, and 1.4 percent in nondurable manufacturing. (See table 

D.)
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Table A. Productivity, sectoral output, and inputs in the manufacturing sector for selected periods, 1987-

2017

Average annual growth

 1987- 

2017

1987- 

1990

1990- 

1995

1995- 

2000

2000- 

2007

2007- 

2017

2016- 

2017

Productivity

 Multifactor Productivity1 0.6 0.2 0.9 1.8 1.8 -0.7 -1.4

 Labor Productivity2 2.7 1.7 3.3 4.6 4.3 0.5 -0.4

 Output per unit of capital services -0.7 -0.8 0.6 0.3 -0.4 -2.1 -1.0

Sectoral Output 1.6 1.8 3.2 4.5 1.1 -0.4 0.4

Inputs

 Combined Inputs3 0.9 1.6 2.2 2.6 -0.6 0.3 1.9

 Labor input4 -0.5 0.5 0.6 0.4 -2.4 -0.5 1.1

 Hours -1.1 0.1 -0.1 -0.1 -3.1 -0.9 0.8

 Labor composition5 0.6 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.3

 Capital services 2.3 2.7 2.6 4.2 1.5 1.8 1.5

 Energy -1.1 2.0 1.6 10.0 -5.6 -5.2 -15.3

 Materials 1.5 0.5 3.3 3.8 0.2 0.6 1.1

Purchased business services 1.0 5.4 3.1 1.3 -0.5 -0.3 8.5

1 Output per combined units of labor input, capital services, energy, materials, and purchased business services. 

2 Output per hour worked. 

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 total wages.

5 Ratio of labor input to hours.
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 1 Output per hour worked.

 2 Capital intensity multiplied by capital's share of current dollar costs. 

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

 4 Research and development per hour multiplied by its share of current dollar costs. 

 5 Software and artistic originals per hour multiplied by their share of current dollar costs. 

 6 Intermediate inputs per hour multiplied by intermediate inputs’ share of current dollar costs. 

 7 Energy per hour multiplied by energy’s share of current dollar costs. 

 8 Materials per hour multiplied by materials’ share of current dollar costs. 

 9 Purchased business services per hour multiplied by purchased business services’ share of current dollar costs. 

10 Labor composition multiplied by labor’s share of current dollar costs.

 11 Output per combined units of labor input, capital services, energy, materials, and purchased business services.

Table B. Labor productivity and contributions of capital intensity, intermediate inputs intensity, labor 

composition, and multifactor productivity to labor productivity in the manufacturing sector for selected 

periods, 1987-2017

Average annual growth

1987-

2017

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2017

2016-

2017

Labor Productivity1 2.7 1.7 3.3 4.6 4.3 0.5 -0.4

 Contribution of capital intensity2 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.9 1.0 0.6 0.2

 Information processing 

 equipment intensity3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0

 Research and 

 Development intensity4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.2

 All other intellectual 

 property products intensity5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0

 All other capital services 

 intensity 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.2 -0.1

 Contribution of intermediate 

 inputs intensity6 1.1 0.9 1.6 1.7 1.3 0.5 0.8

 Energy intensity7 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.3 -0.1 -0.1 -0.3

 Materials intensity8 0.8 0.1 1.0 1.2 1.0 0.5 0.1

 Purchased business 

 services intensity9 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.1 1.0

 Contribution of labor 

 composition10 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1

 Multifactor productivity11 0.6 0.2 0.9 1.8 1.8 -0.7 -1.4
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Table C. Multifactor productivity and related measures in the total, durable and nondurable manufacturing 

sectors, for selected periods, 1987-2017 

Average annual growth

 1987-

2017

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2017

2016-

2017

Manufacturing

 Multifactor productivity1 0.6 0.2 0.9 1.8 1.8 -0.7 -1.4

 Labor productivity 2.7 1.7 3.3 4.6 4.3 0.5 -0.4

 Sectoral Output 1.6 1.8 3.2 4.5 1.1 -0.4 0.4

 Combined Inputs2 0.9 1.6 2.2 2.6 -0.6 0.3 1.9

 Capital Services 2.3 2.7 2.6 4.2 1.5 1.8 1.5

Labor Input3 -0.5 0.5 0.6 0.4 -2.4 -0.5 1.1

Energy -1.1 2.0 1.6 10.0 -5.6 -5.2 -15.3

Materials 1.5 0.5 3.3 3.8 0.2 0.6 1.1

Purchased Business

Services

1.0 5.4 3.1 1.3 -0.5 -0.3 8.5

Durable Manufacturing 

Multifactor productivity1 1.3 0.7 1.2 3.0 2.5 -0.2 -3.2

Labor productivity 3.1 2.0 4.4 6.0 4.5 0.4 -0.1

Sectoral Output 2.1 1.9 4.2 6.7 1.3 -0.6 0.3

Combined Inputs2 0.8 1.1 3.0 3.7 -1.2 -0.4 3.7

Capital Services 2.1 2.5 2.2 5.3 1.1 1.2 0.9

Labor Input3 -0.5 0.3 0.5 1.2 -2.4 -0.7 0.7

Energy -2.1 1.3 0.8 10.3 -5.7 -7.7 -13.8

Materials 1.6 1.1 6.1 5.3 -1.2 -0.2 6.2

Purchased Business 

Services

0.8 1.8 3.7 2.7 0.0 -1.4 11.1

Nondurable Manufacturing

Multifactor productivity1 -0.1 -0.4 0.4 0.0 0.7 -1.0 0.5

Labor productivity 1.9 1.2 1.9 2.9 3.7 0.4 -1.6

Sectoral Output 0.7 1.6 1.9 1.4 0.6 -0.3 0.0

Combined Inputs2 0.9 2.1 1.5 1.4 -0.1 0.7 -0.5

Capital Services 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.1 1.8 2.2 2.0

Labor Input3 -0.6 0.9 0.8 -0.9 -2.4 -0.2 1.9

Energy -0.4 2.6 2.2 9.9 -5.4 -3.9 -16.0

Materials 0.8 0.6 0.8 1.6 0.8 0.5 -3.4

Purchased Business 

Services

1.3 10.0 2.5 -0.4 -1.2 1.0 5.9

1 Output per combined units of hours, capital services, energy, materials, and purchased business services. 

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

 3 Hours at work by age, education, and gender group, weighted by each group’s share of total wages.
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Table D. Difference between revised and previous multifactor productivity and related measures, for 

selected periods 1987-2016 

Average annual growth

 1987-

2016

1987-

1990

1990-

1995

1995-

2000

2000-

2007

2007-

2016

2014-

2015

2015-

2016

Manufacturing

 Multifactor productivity1 0.0 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4

 Labor productivity 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.4

 Sectoral Output 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.5

 Combined Inputs2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.8

 Capital Services 0.1 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 -0.2 -0.5

Labor Input3 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1

Energy 0.4 0.1 0.0 3.4 -1.7 0.8 3.2 -1.7

Materials 0.1 0.1 0.1 -0.5 -0.1 0.4 1.6 -4.3

Purchased Business

Services

-0.7 0.1 -0.1 0.0 0.0 -2.2 -3.8 2.8

Durable Manufacturing 

Multifactor productivity1 0.1 0.0 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 0.5 0.6 1.0

Labor productivity 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.1 -0.2

Sectoral Output 0.0 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 -0.4

Combined Inputs2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.0 -0.4 -0.6 -1.4

Capital Services 0.1 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.0

Labor Input3 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 -0.1 -0.1

Energy -0.1 0.1 -0.1 3.9 -1.1 -1.3 4.5 -10.5

Materials -0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.1 -0.5 1.2 -4.9

Purchased Business 

Services

-0.7 0.1 -0.1 0.2 0.4 -2.7 -7.5 0.6

Nondurable Manufacturing

Multifactor productivity1 -0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1 -0.3 -0.2 -0.3

Labor productivity 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.6

Sectoral Output 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 -0.2

Combined Inputs2 0.0 0.0 0.1 -0.2 -0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1

Capital Services 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 -0.1 -0.6 -0.8

Labor Input3 0.1 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4

Energy 0.6 0.1 0.0 3.1 -2.1 1.9 2.3 2.9

Materials 0.1 0.0 0.1 -0.9 0.0 0.9 1.1 -1.4

Purchased Business 

Services

-0.7 0.0 0.1 -0.3 -0.5 -1.6 1.3 5.5

1 Output per combined units of hours, capital services, energy, materials, and purchased business services. 

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

 3 Hours at work by age, education, and gender group, weighted by each group’s share of total wages.
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Technical Notes 

BLS includes a measure of the effects of changes in the composition of the work force for manufacturing sectors 

and industries. Labor input in manufacturing sectors and NAICS industry groups is obtained by chained 

superlative Tornqvist aggregation of the hours at work, classified by age, education, and gender with weights 

determined by each group’s share of total wages. The labor composition index estimates the effect of shifts in the 

age, education, and gender composition of the work force on hours worked. 

Capital Services 

Capital services are the services derived from the stock of physical assets and intellectual property assets. There 

are 90 asset types for fixed business equipment, structures, inventories, land, and intellectual property products. 

The aggregate capital services measures are obtained by Tornqvist aggregation of the capital stocks for each asset 

type within each of the eighteen manufacturing 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 investment for fixed assets are obtained from BEA. Data on inventories are estimated using data from 

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 valueadded data, obtained from BEA, are used in estimating capital rental prices.

Labor Input 

Labor input in manufacturing sectors and industries is obtained by chained superlative Tornqvist aggregation of 

the hours at work, classified by age, education, and gender with weights determined by each group’s share of total 

wages. The labor composition index estimates the effect of shifts in the age, education, and gender composition of 

the work force on hours worked. Hours at work data reflect Productivity and Costs data as of the February 6, 2019 

“Productivity and Costs” news release (USDL-19-0188). 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. 

The growth rate of labor composition in manufacturing may be underestimated due to limitations in the source 

data. The education proxy does not include training certifications and licensing. The proxy only includes number 

of years of schooling.

Additional information concerning data sources and methods of measuring labor composition can be found in 

“Changes in the Composition of Labor for BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures, 2014” 

(www.bls.gov/mfp/mprlabor.pdf). 

Intermediate Inputs 

In manufacturing, intermediate inputs consist of energy, materials, and purchased business services, and represent 

a large share of production costs. Research has shown that substitution among inputs, including intermediate 

inputs, affects productivity change. Therefore, it is important to account for intermediate inputs in productivity 

measures at the industry level. In contrast, the more aggregate productivity measures compare "value-added" 

output with two classes of inputs, capital and labor. Because of these differences in concepts and methodology, 

productivity change in manufacturing cannot be directly compared with changes in private business or private 

nonfarm business. 

Data on intermediate inputs are obtained from BEA based on BEA annual input-output tables. Tornqvist indexes 

of each of these three input classes are derived at the three-digit NAICS level and then aggregated to the 

manufacturing sectors. Materials inputs are adjusted to exclude transactions between establishments within the 

same sector. 
- 9 - 

Combined Inputs 

The five input indexes (capital services, labor, energy, materials, and purchased business services) are combined 

using chained superlative Tornqvist aggregation, applying weights that represent each component's share of total 

costs. Total costs are defined as the current dollar value of manufacturing sectoral output. 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.

Rising labor costs are, in fact, an incentive for firms to introduce automated production processes. 

Industry estimates of capital to hours ratios can be obtained at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprdload.htm. 

Sectoral Output 

The output concept used for multifactor productivity in manufacturing is “sectoral output”. Sectoral output equals 

gross output (sales, receipts, and other operating income, plus commodity taxes plus changes in inventories), 

excluding transactions between establishments within the same sector. In contrast, the output concept used for 

private business and private nonfarm business is “real value-added”. Real value-added output in private business 

equals gross domestic product less general government, government enterprises, private households (including the 

rental value of owner-occupied real estate), and non-profit institutions. Real value-added output excludes 

intermediate transactions between businesses.

The output index for manufacturing is constructed using a chained superlative index (Tornqvist) of three-digit 

NAICS industry outputs. Industry output is measured as sectoral output, the total value of goods and services 

leaving the industry. The indexes of industry output are calculated with the Tornqvist index formula. This index 

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. 

Manufacturing industry output measures for 2016 and earlier years are constructed primarily using data from the 

economic censuses and annual surveys of the U.S. Census Bureau together with data on price changes primarily 

from BLS. These measures have been revised due to new and revised data from the Bureau of Economic 

Analysis, used in part to construct intra-industry transactions. Manufacturing industry output for 2017 is estimated 

based on historical relationships between BLS sectoral output, BLS price indexes, and data on industrial 

production from the Federal Reserve Board. 

Multifactor Productivity 

The manufacturing multifactor productivity measures describe the relationship between output in real terms and 

the inputs involved in its production. Multifactor productivity measures are not intended to capture the specific 

contributions of labor, capital, or intermediate inputs. Rather, they are designed to measure the joint influences on 

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

other factors of economic growth, allowing for the effects of capital, labor, and intermediate inputs. The 
- 10 - 

multifactor productivity indexes are derived by dividing an output index by an index of the combined inputs of 

labor, capital services, energy, non-energy materials, and purchased business services.

Other information 

Comprehensive tables containing more detailed data than that which is published in 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. Methods for measuring manufacturing multifactor 

productivity are discussed in the July 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review, "Measurement of productivity 

growth in U.S. manufacturing”. See http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprgul95.pdf. 
- 11 - 

Table 1. Manufacturing sector: productivity and related measures for the 1987-2017 period

Annual percent change from previous year

Productivity Inputs

Output 

per unit Purchased

Labor of capital Multifactor Sectoral Capital business Combined

Productivity1 services Productivity2 Output Labor3 Services Energy Materials services Inputs4

1988 2.0 1.8 2.3 4.1 2.3 2.3 4.4 -1.9 8.7 1.8

1989 -0.3 -1.6 -0.7 1.0 1.7 2.7 -0.5 -0.2 6.0 1.8

1990 3.3 -2.6 -0.9 0.3 -2.3 2.9 2.1 3.7 1.6 1.2

1991 1.9 -4.2 -0.9 -1.8 -3.0 2.6 -0.3 -0.9 -0.7 -0.9

1992 5.9 2.4 -0.9 4.9 -0.1 2.4 -0.9 14.9 7.4 5.9

1993 2.4 1.3 2.3 3.6 2.1 2.3 3.2 -0.1 0.7 1.3

1994 2.8 2.8 2.3 5.3 3.2 2.4 3.5 2.4 3.7 2.9

1995 3.5 0.8 1.9 4.1 1.1 3.3 2.5 1.2 4.6 2.1

1996 4.2 0.1 -0.1 4.2 0.5 4.1 -2.8 11.3 -0.7 4.2

1997 4.8 2.1 2.5 6.9 2.5 4.7 -2.2 6.3 3.8 4.2

1998 4.4 -0.2 1.0 4.7 0.9 4.9 0.3 5.4 4.8 3.7

1999 5.6 -0.1 2.5 3.9 -1.2 4.0 44.0 -0.2 0.5 1.4

2000 4.1 -0.5 3.1 2.8 -0.6 3.3 17.6 -3.3 -1.9 -0.3

2001 2.5 -6.4 -1.4 -4.2 -6.0 2.3 16.7 -8.4 2.4 -2.8

2002 8.0 -1.0 2.5 0.4 -6.0 1.5 -34.2 8.6 -6.1 -2.0

2003 6.2 0.1 5.2 1.0 -4.0 0.8 -17.9 -9.0 1.0 -4.1

2004 2.9 1.7 2.5 2.2 -0.1 0.5 0.5 6.5 -13.8 -0.3

2005 5.0 2.7 0.7 4.0 -0.5 1.3 18.1 4.9 7.1 3.2

2006 1.2 0.0 2.3 1.7 0.8 1.7 -19.0 -3.5 5.3 -0.6

2007 4.6 0.7 0.5 3.0 -0.7 2.4 10.4 4.4 2.2 2.5

2008 -0.6 -7.6 0.6 -4.7 -3.0 3.2 4.7 -7.8 -17.1 -5.3

2009 1.8 -12.8 -3.7 -11.6 -12.3 1.5 -25.5 -11.8 -1.2 -8.2

2010 5.7 5.1 3.7 6.1 0.9 0.9 -4.3 4.5 2.9 2.2

2011 0.7 1.5 -0.7 2.8 2.1 1.2 9.9 8.0 -4.0 3.5

2012 -1.0 -0.3 -1.8 1.2 2.6 1.5 1.1 4.0 4.2 3.1

2013 1.4 0.2 -0.3 2.2 1.0 2.1 4.2 4.2 0.8 2.6

2014 -0.3 -0.9 0.7 1.3 1.9 2.2 -10.3 0.3 -1.0 0.6

2015 -1.5 -2.4 -1.3 -0.6 1.1 1.9 -8.6 -0.1 1.7 0.7

2016 -0.2 -1.8 -2.8 -0.1 0.6 1.8 -2.5 5.1 4.1 2.8

2017 -0.4 -1.0 -1.4 0.4 1.1 1.5 -15.3 1.1 8.5 1.9

1 Output per hour worked. 

2 Output per combined units of labor input, capital services, energy, materials, and purchased business services. 

3 Hours at work by age, education, and gender group, weighted by each group’s share of total wages. 

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

Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops productivity measures using output data published by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, and modified by BLS. Compensation and hours data are from the BLS. Capital measures are based on data supplied by the 

BEA, U.S. Department of Commerce. See Technical Notes in this release.
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Table 2. Manufacturing sector: indexes of productivity and related measures, 1987-2017 period

Indexes 2012=100

Year

Productivity Inputs

Labor 

Productivity1

Output 

per unit of 

capital 

services

Multifactor 

Productivity2

Sectoral 

Output Labor 3

Capital 

Services Energy Materials

Purchased 

business 

services

Combined 

Inputs4

1987 45.0 117.7 78.4 64.7 123.0 55.0 97.2 71.5 84.6 82.6

1988 45.9 119.8 80.2 67.4 125.9 56.2 101.5 70.2 91.9 84.0

1989 45.8 117.8 79.6 68.1 128.0 57.8 100.9 70.0 97.4 85.5

1990 47.3 114.8 78.9 68.3 125.0 59.5 103.1 72.6 99.0 86.5

1991 48.2 109.9 78.2 67.0 121.3 61.0 102.8 71.9 98.3 85.8

1992 51.1 112.6 77.4 70.3 121.2 62.5 101.9 82.7 105.6 90.8

1993 52.3 114.0 79.2 72.8 123.8 63.9 105.2 82.6 106.4 91.9

1994 53.7 117.2 81.1 76.7 127.7 65.5 108.8 84.6 110.4 94.6

1995 55.6 118.1 82.6 79.8 129.1 67.6 111.6 85.6 115.4 96.6

1996 57.9 118.1 82.6 83.2 129.8 70.4 108.5 95.2 114.7 100.7

1997 60.7 120.6 84.7 88.9 133.0 73.7 106.1 101.2 119.0 105.0

1998 63.4 120.4 85.5 93.1 134.2 77.3 106.4 106.6 124.8 108.9

1999 67.0 120.2 87.6 96.7 132.7 80.5 153.2 106.4 125.4 110.4

2000 69.7 119.7 90.3 99.5 131.9 83.1 180.2 102.9 123.0 110.1

2001 71.5 112.0 89.1 95.3 124.0 85.1 210.2 94.2 125.9 107.0

2002 77.2 110.8 91.3 95.7 116.6 86.4 138.4 102.3 118.3 104.8

2003 81.9 111.0 96.1 96.6 111.9 87.1 113.6 93.1 119.4 100.6

2004 84.3 112.9 98.5 98.7 111.8 87.5 114.2 99.1 102.9 100.2

2005 88.6 115.9 99.2 102.7 111.2 88.6 134.9 104.0 110.1 103.5

2006 89.6 116.0 101.5 104.4 112.2 90.1 109.3 100.3 116.0 102.9

2007 93.8 116.7 102.1 107.6 111.3 92.2 120.7 104.7 118.5 105.4

2008 93.2 107.8 102.7 102.6 107.9 95.1 126.3 96.5 98.2 99.9

2009 94.9 94.0 98.9 90.7 94.6 96.5 94.1 85.2 97.1 91.7

2010 100.4 98.8 102.6 96.2 95.5 97.4 90.1 89.0 99.9 93.8

2011 101.0 100.3 101.9 98.8 97.5 98.5 99.0 96.1 95.9 97.0

2012 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2013 101.4 100.2 99.7 102.2 101.0 102.1 104.2 104.2 100.8 102.6

2014 101.0 99.3 100.3 103.6 102.9 104.3 93.5 104.5 99.8 103.3

2015 99.5 96.9 99.1 103.0 104.1 106.3 85.4 104.4 101.5 104.0

2016 99.3 95.2 96.3 102.9 104.7 108.2 83.4 109.8 105.7 106.9

2017 98.8 94.2 94.9 103.3 105.8 109.8 70.6 110.9 114.7 108.9

1 Output per hour worked. 

2 Output per combined units of labor input, capital services, energy, materials, and purchased business services. 

3 Hours at work by age, education, and gender group, weighted by each group’s share of total wages. 

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

Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops productivity measures using output data published by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, and modified by BLS. Compensation and hours data are from the BLS. Capital measures are based on data supplied by the 

BEA, U.S. Department of Commerce. See Technical Notes in this release.
- 13 - 

Table 3. Multifactor productivity measures for manufacturing industries in selected periods, 1987-2017 

Average annual growth

Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops productivity measures using output data published by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, and modified by BLS. Compensation and hours data are from the BLS. Capital measures are based on data supplied 

by the BEA, U.S. Department of Commerce. See Technical Notes in this release.

Manufacturing

1987- 2017 1987-1990 1990-1995 1995- 2000 2000-2007 2007-2017 2016-2017

0.6 0.2 0.9 1.8 1.8 -0.7 -1.4

Nondurable manufacturing -0.1 -0.4 0.4 0.0 0.7 -1.0 0.5

Food, beverage, and tobacco products -0.3 -1.4 1.3 -1.4 0.7 -0.9 -0.6

Textile mills and textile product mills 0.7 1.0 0.6 1.9 0.7 -0.1 -0.4

Apparel, leather, and allied products -0.3 0.0 2.6 0.1 1.9 -3.6 -10.8

Paper products 0.1 -0.3 -0.1 0.2 0.8 -0.2 -0.2

Printing and related support activities 1.0 0.3 -0.6 0.9 2.7 0.8 4.0

Petroleum and coal products 0.5 -1.1 1.7 2.7 0.0 -0.3 1.8

Chemical products -0.9 -0.8 -1.1 -0.2 0.9 -2.4 0.8

Plastics and rubber products 0.6 0.8 0.3 1.6 0.7 0.1 1.2

Durable manufacturing 1.3 0.7 1.2 3.0 2.5 -0.2 -3.2

Wood products 0.1 1.2 -1.6 -0.6 0.8 0.5 -0.4

Nonmetallic mineral products 0.1 0.1 0.4 -0.1 0.1 0.0 -1.4

Primary metals 0.5 0.9 -0.2 1.1 0.5 0.6 -3.4

Fabricated metal products -0.2 -0.2 0.7 -0.1 0.6 -1.3 -1.8

Machinery -0.4 1.0 -2.2 -1.3 1.5 -0.8 0.1

Computer and electronic products 6.4 4.9 9.1 13.1 6.6 2.3 -3.5

Electrical equipment, appliances, and 

components

-0.8 -1.9 -2.5 -2.8 1.8 -0.5 -1.4

Transportation equipment 0.0 -1.4 -0.4 0.5 1.7 -0.9 -5.1

Furniture and related products -0.1 -0.8 0.2 0.2 0.1 -0.2 -0.3

Miscellaneous manufacturing 0.7 2.2 -0.5 1.2 1.6 -0.1 -0.1