U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics@bls · official source
Productivity increases 1.8% in Q4 2025; unit labor costs increase 4.4% (annual rates)
· via BLS
Key points
- Unit labor costs increased 2.4 percent over the last four quarters.
- Unit labor costs in the total manufacturing sector increased 9.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a 6.3-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 2.5-percent decrease in productivity.
- This is the largest increase in manufacturing unit labor costs since the third quarter of 2022, when the measure increased 11.4 percent.
- Unit labor costs were revised up 1.6 percentage points to an increase of 4.4 percent, reflecting a 1.0-percentage point downward revision to productivity and a 0.6-percentage point upward revision to hourly compensation.
- The increase in manufacturing unit labor costs was lower than increases in the previous 3 years, each of which exceeded 4.0 percent.
Official source
BLSMar 24, 2026Official release ↗
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