Table 1
Business sector: Labour productivity and related variables for Canada and the United States1– Seasonally adjusted
| Third quarter 2012 | Fourth quarter 2012 | First quarter 2013 | Second quarter 2013 | Third quarter 2013 | Fourth quarter 2013 | First quarter 2014 | Second quarter 2014 | Third quarter 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | % change from previous quarter | |
| Canada | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | -0.5 | -0.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.1 | -0.0 | 2.0 | 0.1 |
| Real gross domestic product (GDP) | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 |
| Hours worked | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | -0.3 | 0.3 | -0.7 | 0.7 |
| Hourly compensation | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 |
| Unit labour cost | 1.4 | 0.5 | -0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | -0.0 | 0.2 |
| Exchange rate2 | 1.5 | 0.4 | -1.8 | -1.4 | -1.4 | -1.0 | -4.9 | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| Unit labour cost in US dollars | 3.0 | 0.8 | -2.0 | -1.3 | -1.3 | -0.7 | -4.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| United States3 | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | 0.3 | -0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.8 | -1.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Real GDP | 0.8 | -0.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.1 | -0.8 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| Hours worked | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Hourly compensation | 0.0 | 2.6 | -1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.7 | -0.3 | 0.2 |
| Unit labour cost | -0.3 | 3.1 | -2.0 | 0.8 | -0.8 | -0.3 | 3.0 | -1.0 | -0.3 |
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Fourth quarter 2013 | First quarter 2014 | Second quarter 2014 | Third quarter 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change from the previous year | % change from the previous year | % change from the previous year | % change from the previous year | % change from the previous year | % change from same quarter of previous year | % change from same quarter of previous year | % change from same quarter of previous year | % change from same quarter of previous year | |
| Canada | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | 0.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| Real GDP | -4.7 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
| Hours worked | -4.9 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -0.5 | -0.1 |
| Hourly compensation | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Unit labour cost | 2.3 | -0.4 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Exchange rate2 | -6.7 | 10.3 | 4.1 | -1.0 | -3.0 | -5.6 | -8.6 | -6.1 | -4.7 |
| Unit labour cost in US dollars | -4.5 | 10.0 | 6.3 | 2.0 | -1.7 | -5.3 | -7.6 | -5.3 | -3.7 |
| United States3 | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | 3.3 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Real GDP | -4.1 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| Hours worked | -7.1 | -0.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| Hourly compensation | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 1.4 | -0.0 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Unit labour cost | -2.2 | -1.4 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 0.2 | -2.3 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 |
Source(s):
CANSIM table 383-0008.
Table note 1
Calculations of growth rates are based on index numbers rounded to three decimal places.
Table note 2
The exchange rate corresponds to the Canadian dollar value expressed in US dollars.
Table note 3
US data are from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Productivity and costs: Third quarter 2014 published in NEWS, December 3. Because of rounding, the annual growth rates presented in this table can sometimes differ slightly from the annual rates published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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