Labor Productivity Declined 2.1% in Q1 2023

Washington, DC, June 1, 2023-Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 2.1% in Q1 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output increased 0.5% and hours worked increased 2.6%. 

Labor productivity was revised up 0.6 percentage point, the combined effect of a 0.3-percentage point upward revision to output and a 0.4-percentage point downward revision to hours worked. From the same quarter a year ago, nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 0.8%, reflecting a 1.4% increase in output and a 2.2% increase in hours worked. 

The 0.8% productivity decline is the first time the four-quarter change series has remained negative for five consecutive quarters; this series begins in the first quarter of 1948.