Labor Productivity Increased 4.9% in Q3

Washington, DC, November 5, 2020-Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 4.9%  in Q3 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, as output increased 43.5% and hours worked increased 36.8%. 

The 4.9% gain in productivity in the third quarter was the second consecutive large increase in the measure-productivity had increased 10.6% in the second quarter of 2020. With the exception of the second quarter, productivity growth in the third quarter of 2020 was the largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2009 (5.7%). The two-quarter growth rate observed during the second and third quarters of 2020 (7.7%) is the highest rate of productivity growth over two quarters since the third and fourth quarters of 1965 (7.8%). Over the last four quarters, nonfarm business productivity increased 4.1%.