U.S. Nonfarm Productivity Rises 3.6% in Third Quarter as Unit Labor Costs Fall 0.7%
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on November 5 in Washington released preliminary Productivity and Costs data for the third quarter of 2026: labor productivity in the nonfarm business sector rose 3.6 percent in the third quarter (seasonally adjusted annual rates), as output increased 3.7 percent and hours worked increased 0.1 percent. Productivity rose 2.1 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector decreased 0.7 percent in the third quarter, reflecting a 2.9-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 3.6-percent increase in productivity. Over the last four quarters, unit labor costs increased 2.4 percent. Real hourly compensation, which takes consumer prices into account, increased 1.1 percent in the third quarter and 1.0 percent over the last four quarters.
The labor share — the percentage of output that accrues to workers in the form of compensation — was 53.0 percent in the third quarter, the lowest level in the series, which begins in the first quarter of 1947.
In the broader business sector, productivity increased 4.1 percent in the third quarter, as output rose 3.9 percent and hours worked fell 0.2 percent, while unit labor costs decreased 0.9 percent.
Manufacturing productivity increased 0.3 percent in the third quarter, as output rose 1.3 percent and hours worked rose 1.0 percent, and was up 0.4 percent from a year ago. Durable manufacturing productivity increased 2.2 percent, while nondurable manufacturing productivity decreased 1.7 percent. Manufacturing unit labor costs increased 2.7 percent in the quarter and 4.0 percent from a year ago.
During the current business cycle, starting in the fourth quarter of 2019, nonfarm business productivity has grown at an annualized rate of 2.2 percent through the third quarter of 2026, higher than the 1.5-percent rate of the previous business cycle and the same as the long-term rate of 2.2 percent since the first quarter of 1947. BLS also revised earlier data: second-quarter nonfarm productivity was revised up to an increase of 2.1 percent from 1.4 percent, and unit labor costs were revised up to an increase of 1.9 percent from 1.2 percent. The release incorporates the Bureau of Economic Analysis' 2026 annual update of the National Income and Product Accounts, released September 30, with related measures revised back to 2021.
The revised third-quarter release is scheduled for December 8 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国劳工部总部弗朗西斯·珀金斯大楼正面（2025年2月摄），劳工统计局隶属劳工部。G. Edward Johnson 摄，CC BY，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Front of the Frances Perkins Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., home department of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (February 2025). Photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY, via Wikimedia Commons.
