Canada labor productivity rate for Q1 -0.3% versus -0.2% last quarter

• Prior quarter 0.2%
• Labor productivity rate -0.3% in Q1

Highlights and details:

Labour Productivity

• Labour productivity of Canadian businesses declined 0.3% in Q1 2024, following a 0.2% increase in Q4 2023.
• Productivity fell in half of the 16 industry sectors.
• Major contributors to the decline: manufacturing, professional services, and administrative services.
• Gains in productivity were observed in agriculture and forestry, accommodation and food services, and transportation and warehousing.

Business Output and Hours Worked

• Business output edged up 0.1% in Q1 2024, similar to the Q4 2023 increase.
• Hours worked increased by 0.4% in Q1 2024, after slight changes in the previous two quarters.
• Hours worked in services-producing businesses increased by 0.6%, while goods-producing businesses saw no change.
• Hours worked were up in 9 of the 16 industry sectors, stable in 4 (mining and oil and gas extraction, construction, retail trade, and transportation and warehousing).

Employment

• The increase in hours worked reflects 0.4% growth in the number of jobs, with unchanged average hours worked.

Unit Labour Costs

• Unit labour costs rose by 1.3% in Q1 2024, higher than the 0.2% increase in Q4 2023.
• The rise in unit labour costs was due to a 0.3% decline in productivity and a 1.0% increase in hourly compensation.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.