Productivity growth has not been evenly distributed across the U.S. economy in recent years. Some sectors achieved major efficiency gains between 2020 and 2025, while others posted far more modest improvements.
The chart compares percent growth in output per hour across several major sectors. Durable manufacturing led the group with productivity growth of 21.3%, far ahead of broader business and nonfarm sectors.
The gap suggests that technological adoption, automation, and operational efficiency accelerated much faster in some industries than others.
The Strongest Productivity Performer
Durable manufacturing posted the highest productivity increase in the chart at 21.3%.
That means output per worker hour rose significantly faster in industries such as machinery, electronics, transportation equipment, and industrial production.
Manufacturing overall also performed strongly, recording productivity growth of 15.8% between 2020 and 2025.
These gains likely reflect a combination of automation, supply chain restructuring, robotics investment, and efficiency improvements introduced after the pandemic disruptions.
Where Productivity Growth Was Slower
Outside manufacturing, productivity gains were noticeably smaller.
The broader business sector recorded growth of 9.2%, while nonfarm business productivity increased by 8.5%.
Those numbers still represent positive productivity growth, but they lagged far behind durable manufacturing.
The difference highlights how some sectors were able to scale output efficiently, while others remained more dependent on labor-intensive work or slower-moving operational systems.
Why Manufacturing Pulled Ahead
Several structural trends likely contributed to the manufacturing surge.
Many manufacturers accelerated automation investments during and after the pandemic to offset labor shortages and supply chain instability. Companies also pushed harder toward digital production systems, predictive maintenance, and advanced logistics management.
Durable manufacturing especially benefited because large-scale production environments are easier to optimize through technology compared with service-heavy industries.
In contrast, many business and nonfarm sectors rely more heavily on human interaction, administrative work, or fragmented workflows that are harder to automate quickly.
What This Means for Workers
Higher productivity can strengthen long-term economic growth, but the benefits are not always distributed evenly across industries.
Workers in highly productive sectors may see stronger wage growth, more capital investment, and greater demand for technical skills. At the same time, industries with slower productivity gains may face more pressure to control costs through hiring restraint or restructuring.
The chart also reinforces a broader trend in the labor market: technology-intensive sectors are increasingly separating themselves from the rest of the economy in efficiency growth.
For workers, that means digital skills, technical specialization, and adaptability are becoming more valuable in sectors experiencing rapid productivity expansion.
Dataset
Data Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Productivity and Costs News Release. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Labor Productivity and Costs Program. https://www.bls.gov/productivity/
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). (2026). Nonfarm Business Sector: Labor Productivity (Output per Hour) for All Workers (PRS85006092). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PRS85006092
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). (2026). Manufacturing Sector: Labor Productivity (Output per Hour) for All Workers (OPHMFG). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/OPHMFG
