Nonfarm Business Labor Productivity Down to Three-Year Low in 2021

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

US nonfarm business sector labor productivity grew in the fourth quarter of 2021, but this was not enough to boost the full-year figure, which fell to a three-year low.

• Fourth-quarter labor productivity increased by 6.6% compared with the previous quarter and by 2.0% compared with the same month in 2020.
• The latest reading is 4.5% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2019, indicating an annual growth of 2.2% during the COVID-19 pandemic so far.
• Output climbed by 9.2% quarter-on-quarter and 7.0% year-on-year, while hours worked jumped by 2.4% quarter-on-quarter and 7.0% year-on-year.
• The business sector increased by 6.6% from the previous quarter and 2.1% from the same quarter in 2020.
• Manufacturing slipped by 0.8% from the third quarter and grew by 1.0% from the fourth quarter of the previous year.
• The latest figures brought the full-year 2021 labor productivity up by 1.9%, the slowest growth since 2018’s 1.5%.