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June 05, 2019CANADA BUSINESS SECTOR LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY, Q1 2019 
Labour productivity of Canadian businesses rose 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 after declining 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018. Growth in the first quarter is faster than growth in the same quarter of 2018, when labour productivity declined 0.4 per cent. Real gross domestic product (GDP) of businesses declined 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, while hours worked declined at a faster rate of 0.3 per cent. Growth in total compensation per hour worked was up 1.4 per cent in 2019Q1.
Unit labour cost increased 1.1 per cent in Q1, the same pace as in the previous quarter.
Measured in US dollars, Canada's unit labour costs rose 0.5 per cent in the quarter, after remaining virtually unchanged in Q4.
Unit labour costs in US dollars have declined 3.2 per cent since Q1 2018.
Note: Labour productivity, GDP and, unit labour costs cover the business sector only. Labour productivity is a measure of real GDP per hour worked. Unit labour cost is defined as the cost of workers' wages and benefits per unit of real GDP.
Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0206-01 Indexes of business sector labour productivity, unit labour cost and related variables
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