Output increased 6.0 percent and hours of all persons rose 3.6 percent. During the fourth quarter of 1999, productivity had increased 6.9 percent in this sector, reflecting gains of 8.5 percent in output and 1.5 percent in hours. Unit labor costs rose 1.8 percent in the first quarter, after falling 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 1999. Unit labor costs the cost of the labor input required to produce one unit of output are computed by dividing labor costs in nominal terms by real output. These data are a product of the BLS Quarterly Labor Productivity program.
Data are subject to revision.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor .