Labor productivity decreased by 7.6% in the “warehousing and storage” industry in 2018, according to a report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The measure of labor productivity “describes the relationship between real output and the labor hours involved in its production. These measures show the changes from period to period in the amount of goods and services produced per hour worked,” according to the BLS.

Hours worked increased by 10.4% in the warehousing industry during 2018, however, output rose by 2.0% compared to the previous year. Labor compensation rose by 13.4%.

The BLS measured productivity in 28 industries during 2018; labor productivity increased in 18 of them. The highest gain in productivity was in the “natural gas distribution” industry, which rose 13.5%. In that industry, the number of hours worked fell by 2.4%, but output rose by 10.7%.

Warehousing is an industry that often uses staffing firms to fill positions.

In 2017, the BLS had measured productivity in the “employment placement and executive search” industry and found that productivity had increased 4.3% in 2017 compared to 2016. Hours worked rose by 1.0%, but productivity rose 4.3%.