<p>It depends on which BLS numbers you look at</p>

<p>For example in Table 2 of <a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/industry-employment-and-output-projections-to-2022.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/industry-employment-and-output-projections-to-2022.htm</a> it gives for manufacturing output:</p>

<pre><code>Billions of chained 2005 dollars            Billions of dollars
      2002        2012                        2002        2012
    4,320.8     4,407.6                     3,848.3     5,604.8
</code></pre>

<p>and the first pair of numbers uses a constant dollar (more precisely a chain-weighted dollar) measure while the second pair uses a current dollar measure </p>

<p>For general productivity measures, the BLS says for example at <a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch12.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch12.pdf</a> </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Time-series indexes of manufacturing labor productivity (output per hour) and unit labor costs are constructed from three  basic  aggregate  measures:  Total  real  output,  hours worked,  and  nominal  compensation. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>So output per hour aims at a real measure of productivity, while unit labor costs divide a nominal figure by a real figure to give something which combines real productivity and nominal wages  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-03T22:30:23.510Z
2016-10-03T22:30:23.510Z
Henry
<p>I am using BLS labor productivity measures to estimate the impact of automation in the US. Looking through the BLS handbook and online, I haven't been able to determine if the LPC measures are in current dollars or constant dollars. Do you happen to know?</p>

<p>For example, the BLS reports <code>Value of production</code> by industry in <code>$ millions</code>.  Is this a current-dollar or a constant-dollar measure?</p>

<p>BLS page on the topic &amp; with access to data: <a href="http://www.bls.gov/lpc/" rel="nofollow">http://www.bls.gov/lpc/</a></p>

<inflation><statistics><labor-cost>
Are BLS labor productivity measures in current dollars or constant dollars?
James H.
# Are BLS labor productivity measures in current dollars or constant dollars?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-03)

I am using BLS labor productivity measures to estimate the impact of automation in the US. Looking through the BLS handbook and online, I haven't been able to determine if the LPC measures are in current dollars or constant dollars. Do you happen to know?

For example, the BLS reports `Value of production` by industry in `$ millions`. Is this a current-dollar or a constant-dollar measure?

BLS page on the topic & with access to data: <http://www.bls.gov/lpc/>

**Tags:** inflation, statistics, labor-cost


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-10-03. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

It depends on which BLS numbers you look at

For example in Table 2 of <http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/industry-employment-and-output-projections-to-2022.htm> it gives for manufacturing output:

```
Billions of chained 2005 dollars            Billions of dollars
      2002        2012                        2002        2012
    4,320.8     4,407.6                     3,848.3     5,604.8

```

and the first pair of numbers uses a constant dollar (more precisely a chain-weighted dollar) measure while the second pair uses a current dollar measure

For general productivity measures, the BLS says for example at <http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch12.pdf>

> Time-series indexes of manufacturing labor productivity (output per hour) and unit labor costs are constructed from three basic aggregate measures: Total real output, hours worked, and nominal compensation.

So output per hour aims at a real measure of productivity, while unit labor costs divide a nominal figure by a real figure to give something which combines real productivity and nominal wages


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