2. TFP: BENCHMARK MEASURES
Traditionally, Postal Service TFP has been benchmarked against Multifactor Productivity (MFP), an index of private non-farm business productivity reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In recent years, MFP has become less useful as a benchmark measure for comparison of Postal productivity because, as the U.S. economy has become more heavily weighted with high technology goods and services, MFP results have been more heavily influenced by that business sector. Productivity growth in the high-tech sector far outstrips that of the industrial and service sectors that are more akin to the Postal Service.

Table 3.7 shows annual and cumulative TFP and Output per Workhour compared to MFP for 1990–2002. Over the long run, a successful organization will average positive growth in productivity, as has the Postal Service, but year-to-year fluctuations in TFP and Output per Workhour are common. In 1990 and 1993, TFP and Output per Workhour showed exceptional growth. Slow growth or declines followed in 1994 through 1996 and positive growth was displayed again in 1997. In 1998 and 1999, TFP declined while Output per Workhour increased. Since 2000, the Postal Service has achieved strong growth in both TFP and Output per Workhour.