Labour productivity growth slows in fourth quarter to 0.1 per cent

Number of hours worked remained unchanged

OTTAWA (Reuters) — The labour productivity of Canadian businesses grew by just 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015, down from 0.4 per cent in the third quarter, StatisticsCanada said on Friday.

Market analysts polled by Reuters had forecast no change in the fourth quarter. For 2015 as a whole, labour productivity for Canadian businesses slipped by 0.2 per cent following year-on-year gains of 2.5 per cent in 2014 and 1.3 per cent in 2013.

Real gross domestic product of businesses grew by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter after rising by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter.

The number of hours worked remained unchanged after rising for five quarters in a row. Overall labour costs per unit of production grew by 0.8 per cent, due mainly to higher wages.

The main reasons for the year-on-year fall were declines in construction, manufacturing and real estate services.

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