Manufacturing productivity uses sectoral output and spans NAICS 31-33 nationally. It does not define a product market, employer market, or local geography.
BLS major sectors / quarterly production context
Productivity & Labor Costs Observatory
Compare output per hour, compensation, and unit labor costs across major sectors using official indexes and four-quarter changes. Revisions and missing observations remain visible; these are not direct market-power measures.
- Panel
- 36 x 38
- series x quarterly slots
- Coverage
- Q1 2017 - Q2 2026
- seasonally adjusted
- Observed
- 1,362
- 6 explicit source gaps
- Release state
- 30 preliminary
- 44 revised cells
- Productivity
- 120.0
- +2.2% over 4Q / prelim.
- Real output
- 127.1
- +2.5% over 4Q / prelim.
- Hours
- 105.9
- +0.2% over 4Q / prelim.
- Compensation
- 148.8
- +3.7% over 4Q / prelim.
- Real compensation
- 109.2
- -0.1% over 4Q / prelim.
- Unit labor costs
- 124.0
- +1.4% over 4Q / prelim.
Comparison passport
Major-sector production
United States / quarterly / seasonally adjusted / 2017=100- Major sectors
- 5
- same quarterly frame
- Visible quarters
- 38
- Q1 2017 - Q2 2026
- Measure cells
- 1,140
- six published indexes
- Release states
- 24
- 6 gaps / 38 revised
Classification bridges
Manufacturing context beside industry structure
Durable manufacturing combines many goods-producing industries within NAICS 31-33. Its aggregate productivity and labor-cost indexes are classification context only.
Nondurable manufacturing combines many goods-producing industries within NAICS 31-33. Its aggregate productivity and labor-cost indexes are classification context only.
Aggregate productivity is not a competition verdict.Major-sector productivity and cost indexes describe aggregate U.S. production, hours, and labor compensation. They do not measure market concentration, markups, profits, employer power, bargaining power, innovation, product quality, a legal antitrust market, or the competitive cause of a change.Inspect relationship contract
Interpretation standard
One accounting system, six distinct measures
Labor productivity
Real output per hour worked. Aggregate movement can reflect within-industry change and shifts in economic composition.
Real output
Real value-added output for business scopes and real sectoral output for manufacturing scopes.
Hours worked
Hours worked by the published worker class, not payroll jobs or a count of unique workers.
Hourly compensation
Nominal labor compensation per hour, including wages, salaries, and supplements.
Real hourly compensation
Hourly compensation adjusted for consumer prices, preserving the BLS aggregate scope.
Unit labor costs
Hourly compensation relative to labor productivity, expressed as labor cost per unit of real output.