Table 1
Business sector: Labour productivity and related variables for Canada and the United States1 – Seasonally adjusted
| Fourth quarter 2015 | First quarter 2016 | Second quarter 2016 | Third quarter 2016 | Fourth quarter 2016 | First quarter 2017 | Second quarter 2017 | Third quarter 2017 | Fourth quarter 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | % change from the previous quarter | |
| Canada | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | -0.5 | 0.2 |
| Real gross domestic product (GDP) | -0.0 | 0.6 | -0.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Hours worked | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.3 | -0.0 | 0.4 | -0.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| Hourly compensation | 0.7 | -0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.2 | -0.6 | 0.9 | 1.7 |
| Unit labour cost | 0.6 | -0.6 | 0.6 | -0.9 | 0.4 | -0.3 | -0.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Exchange rate2 | -2.0 | -2.9 | 6.7 | -1.3 | -2.1 | 0.8 | -1.6 | 7.3 | -1.5 |
| Unit labour cost in US dollars | -1.3 | -3.5 | 7.3 | -2.2 | -1.8 | 0.6 | -2.4 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
| United States3 | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | -0.7 | -0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | -0.2 | 0.3 | 0.8 | -0.2 |
| Real GDP | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| Hours worked | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Hourly compensation | 1.0 | -1.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | -0.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| Unit labour cost | 1.7 | -0.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | -1.4 | 1.2 | -0.3 | -0.0 | 0.5 |
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | First quarter 2017 | Second quarter 2017 | Third quarter 2017 | Fourth quarter 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % 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 the same quarter of the previous year | % change from the same quarter of the previous year | % change from the same quarter of the previous year | % change from the same quarter of the previous year | |
| Canada | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | 1.6 | 3.0 | -0.5 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Real GDP | 2.8 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
| Hours worked | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.3 | -0.1 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| Hourly compensation | 2.8 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.3 |
| Unit labour cost | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.3 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.2 | -1.5 | 0.9 | 2.0 |
| Exchange rate2 | -3.0 | -6.7 | -13.6 | -3.6 | 2.1 | 4.0 | -4.1 | 4.2 | 4.8 |
| Unit labour cost in US dollars | -1.9 | -6.2 | -11.5 | -3.7 | 2.5 | 3.7 | -5.6 | 5.1 | 7.0 |
| United States3 | |||||||||
| Labour productivity | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Real GDP | 2.2 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
| Hours worked | 1.5 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.3 |
| Hourly compensation | 1.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 2.2 |
| Unit labour cost | 0.6 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | -0.4 | -0.5 | 1.5 |
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 (BLS), Productivity and Costs: Fourth quarter 2017, Preliminary—published in news release, February 1. Due to rounding, the annual growth rates presented in this table can sometimes differ slightly from the annual rates published by the BLS.
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