Canada Labor Productivity Rebounds More than Expected

2024-03-06 13:39 By Luisa Carvalho 1 min. read

Labor productivity in Canada increased by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023, following a downwardly revised 0.5% fall in the prior period and compared with market forecasts of a 0.2% rise.

This was the first gain since the first quarter of 2022, as business output increased while hours worked did not change.

Service-producing businesses saw a 0.4% increase in productivity, the first growth in six quarters, primarily driven by retail trade.

For goods-producing businesses, productivity edged up by 0.1% in Q4, after four quarters of decline.

On average, labor productivity of Canadian businesses fell 1.8% over 2023, a third consecutive annual decline.

This reflects the 0.6% increase in real GDP of businesses, combined with a 2.5% increase in hours worked.

Growth in business output and hours worked slowed for a second consecutive year.



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