Factory Unit Labor Costs Rise to 2.70 From -0.40

Factory Unit Labor Costs came in at 2.70 in Q3 2026, 3.1 points above the prior reading of -0.40. On a diffusion index the sign is the signal: above zero means more respondents reporting expansion than contraction, and the distance from zero is how lopsided the split is.

• Q3 2026: 2.70
• prior (Q2 2026): -0.40
• change: +3.1 pts

Factory Unit Labor Costs has ranged from -0.40 (Q2 2026) to 10.30 (Q4 2025) over the archived window, which puts the current reading 29% of the way up that range.

Survey readings are noisy month to month, so the standing trend matters more than any single print: this series has been rising across recent readings. Source: BLS Productivity and Costs.