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Manufacturing Productivity Declines In 54 Of 86 Industries For 2017

By Kurt Osterberg · On April 20, 2018

A BLS report shows widespread declines in manufacturing and mining productivity.

A BLS report on Productivity and Costs by Industry shows widespread productivity declines in 2017 for manufacturing and mining industries.

Productivity Synopsis

Labor productivity declines were widespread among manufacturing industries in 2017, with decreases in 54 of the 86 four-digit NAICS industries.

Of the 51 industries in durable manufacturing, 34 experienced productivity decreases in 2017 led by a decline in the other transportation equipment industry of 11.5 percent.

Nondurable manufacturing also experienced widespread declines in 2017 with productivity falling in 20 of 35 industries, led by the sugar and confectionery products industry with a decrease of 8.0 percent.

Of the 4 industries in the mining sector, 3 had productivity gains in 2017 led by the oil and gas extraction industry with an increase of 32.6 percent.

Labor Cost Synopsis

Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, rose in 73 of the 86 NAICS 4-digit manufacturing industries.

Of the 51 industries in durable manufacturing, 45 experienced rising unit labor costs led by the audio and video equipment manufacturing industry with an increase of 16.8 percent.

Nondurable manufacturing also experienced widespread increases in unit labor costs with 28 of the 35 industries recording an increase, led by the apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing industry with a rise of 13.0 percent.

Of the 4 industries in the mining sector, 3 had decreases in unit labor costs led by the oil and gas extraction industry with a decline of 18.6 percent.

Productivity by Industry