Dispersion Statistics on Productivity (DiSP) is an experimental data product jointly developed and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau.

Productivity measures are critical for understanding economic performance. Official BLS productivity statistics, which are available for major sectors and detailed industries, provide information on the sources of aggregate productivity growth.

A large body of research shows that within-industry variation in productivity provides important insights into productivity dynamics. This research reveals large and persistent productivity differences across businesses even within narrowly-defined industries. These differences vary across industries and over time and are related to productivity-enhancing reallocation.

Since there are no official statistics providing this information, the BLS and the Census Bureau are collaborating to create experimental measures of within-industry productivity dispersion. These measures complement the official BLS aggregate and industry-level productivity growth statistics and thereby improve our understanding of the rich productivity dynamics in the U.S. economy.

The underlying micro data for these measures are available for use by qualified researchers on approved projects in the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers.

These DiSP confirm the presence of large productivity differences, and we hope that these statistics will further encourage research into understanding these differences.

September 2019