Manufacturing’s 2Q productivity slides 2.2 percent
Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 9/4/2008 8:17:00 AM
Manufacturing productivity slid 2.2 percent during the second quarter, the U.S. Dept. of Labor reported.It’s the largest quarterly decline in manufacturing since 1989, fueled largely by a 4.5 percent decline in productivity for the durable goods manufacturing sector. Manufacturing accounts for roughly 12 percent of employment in the United States business sector, according to the Labor Dept.
Taking consumer prices into account, however, real hourly compensation for the total manufacturing sector dropped 1.1 percent, despite an hourly compensation increase of 3.9 percent for all manufacturing workers and of 4.1 percent for durable goods manufacturers.
The news was better for the overall economy, which saw productivity rise 4.3 percent for both the business and non-farm business sectors.
That came as a surprise to analysts, the Bloomberg news service reported, who had based their forecasts on the Labor Dept.’s less rosy prediction in August.
The government predicted a quarterly productivity increase of only 2.2 percent last month, according to the news service, which would have been a slight drop from the 2.6 percent increase reported for the first quarter.
Overall labor costs fell during the quarter by 1 percent.
Talkback
Related Content
Related Content
Sponsored Links
View All Blogs
