Canada labour productivity rises slightly

Edges up 0.1 per cent in third-quarter 2014

OTTAWA (Reuters) — The labour productivity of Canadian businesses edged up by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2014 after posting a substantial 2 per cent gain in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Statscan revised the second quarter increase up from an initial 1.8 per cent.

Real gross domestic product of businesses grew by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, a slower pace than the 1.2 per cent growth recorded in the second quarter. Service-producing businesses were mainly responsible for the increase.

Overall labour costs per unit of production grew by 0.2 per cent after zero growth in the second quarter.

The number of hours worked jumped by 0.7 per cent following a 0.7 per cent decline in the second quarter.

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