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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost
The 2005 growth rate in Canada's labour productivity, reported on March 10 as 1.1%, is 2.2% after this correction. This was the strongest annual productivity performance since 2000.
Labour statistics consistent with the national accounts, published today in conjunction with the provincial economic accounts, incorporate corrections to hours worked for 2005. These corrections were not reflected in the first estimates of productivity growth that were published on March 10, 2006. These changes to hours worked have the effect of adjusting upward labour productivity growth in the business sector in 2005.
After virtually no growth in 2003 and 2004, business sector productivity recovered significantly in 2005. Productivity regained momentum in the wake of a slowdown in hours worked combined with steady growth in economic activity.
Note to readers
With this release, estimates of labour productivity growth in the business sector between 2004 and 2005 have been adjusted upward relative to the estimates which were originally published on March 10, 2006, and subsequently removed from our Web site. The new statistics incorporate corrections to the estimates of hours worked in 2005. The estimates originally published on March 10 did not properly account for the calendar differences between 2004 and 2005, in particular the fact that 2004 had two more working days than 2005.
This working-day adjustment to the hours worked estimates has an appreciable impact on the estimates of labour productivity and hourly compensation. Statistics Canada regrets any inconvenience this error may have caused.
Minor revisions have also been introduced in the estimates as a result of improvements in the division of hours between business and non-business sectors. |
Labour productivity in the United States rose 2.7% in 2005. With the correction to the Canadian estimate for 2005, the gap in productivity growth between Canada and United States narrowed in 2005 to only 0.5 percentage points, the smallest in five years.
The CANSIM tables 383-0008 and 383-0012 will be available shortly.
To order data, contact Client Services (productivity.measures@statcan.gc.ca). For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact John R. Baldwin (613-951-8588; fax: 613-951-3292), Micro-economic Analysis Division.
| Business sector: Labour productivity and related variables for Canada and the United States |
| |
2003 Q4 |
2004 Q1 |
2004 Q2 |
2004 Q3 |
2004 Q4 |
2005 Q1 |
2005 Q2 |
2005 Q3 |
2005 Q4 |
| |
% change from previous quarter, seasonally adjusted |
| Canada |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Labour productivity |
-0.1 |
-0.2 |
-0.6 |
1.2 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.9 |
0.6 |
| Real GDP |
1.0 |
0.8 |
1.2 |
0.8 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
1.0 |
0.7 |
| Hours worked |
1.1 |
0.9 |
1.8 |
-0.3 |
-0.3 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
| Hourly compensation |
0.0 |
0.2 |
-0.8 |
1.3 |
1.5 |
0.7 |
1.1 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
| Unit labour cost |
0.1 |
0.4 |
-0.1 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
0.5 |
0.6 |
0.9 |
1.2 |
| Exchange rate1 |
-4.7 |
0.2 |
3.2 |
-3.9 |
-6.6 |
0.5 |
1.4 |
-3.3 |
-2.4 |
| Unit labour cost in US$ |
5.0 |
0.2 |
-3.2 |
4.1 |
7.9 |
0.0 |
-0.7 |
4.6 |
3.6 |
| United States2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Labour productivity |
0.0 |
0.9 |
0.9 |
0.4 |
0.7 |
0.8 |
0.3 |
1.3 |
0.0 |
| Real GDP |
0.7 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
0.9 |
1.1 |
0.9 |
1.2 |
0.4 |
| Hours worked |
0.6 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.2 |
0.7 |
0.0 |
0.4 |
| Hourly compensation |
0.6 |
1.0 |
0.9 |
1.6 |
2.7 |
1.2 |
0.1 |
1.5 |
0.8 |
| Unit labour cost |
0.6 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
1.1 |
2.0 |
0.3 |
-0.2 |
0.3 |
0.7 |
| |
|
|
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2005 Q1 |
2005 Q2 |
2005 Q3 |
2005 Q4 |
| |
| |
% change from the previous year |
% change from same quarter of previous year, seasonally adjusted |
| Canada |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Labour productivity |
|
|
0.4 |
0.0 |
2.2 |
1.6 |
2.6 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
| Real GDP |
|
|
1.6 |
3.1 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
2.5 |
2.7 |
3.0 |
| Hours worked |
|
|
1.3 |
3.1 |
0.6 |
1.5 |
0.1 |
0.3 |
0.8 |
| Hourly compensation |
|
|
2.3 |
0.9 |
4.5 |
2.7 |
4.7 |
5.1 |
5.5 |
| Unit labour cost |
|
|
1.8 |
0.9 |
2.3 |
1.1 |
1.9 |
2.8 |
3.3 |
| Exchange rate |
|
|
-10.8 |
-7.1 |
-6.9 |
-6.9 |
-8.6 |
-8.1 |
-4.0 |
| Unit labour cost in US$ |
|
|
14.5 |
8.4 |
9.9 |
8.7 |
11.4 |
11.9 |
7.5 |
| United States2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Labour productivity |
|
|
4.1 |
3.5 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
2.2 |
3.0 |
2.4 |
| Real GDP |
|
|
3.4 |
4.8 |
4.0 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
4.2 |
3.7 |
| Hours worked |
|
|
-0.7 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
1.9 |
1.1 |
1.3 |
| Hourly compensation |
|
|
4.0 |
4.7 |
5.4 |
6.5 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
3.6 |
| Unit labour cost |
|
|
-0.1 |
1.2 |
2.7 |
3.6 |
3.4 |
2.5 |
1.2 |
| 1. | The exchange rate corresponds to the US dollar value expressed in Canadian dollars. |
| 2. | US data are from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Productivity and costs: Fourth quarter 2005 published in NEWS, March 7. |
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