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June 03, 2020CANADA BUSINESS SECTOR LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY, Q1 2020 During the COVID-19 pandemic, comparisons of year-to-date averages and sums do not show Nova Scotia’s rapidly-changing economic situation. The DailyStats will focus on year-over-year comparisons, comparing one month with the same month in the prior year. Where possible the DailyStats will make comparisons of seasonally adjusted data from the pre-COVID-19 period (January and February 2020) with the period during which COVID-19 measures were in place from March 2020 onwards.
In 2020Q1, Labour productivity of Canadian businesses increased 3.4 per cent after a decline of 0.1 per cent in 2019Q4. In 2020Q1, Labour productivity of Canadian businesses year-over-year growth increased 3.6 per cent over 2019Q1. In 2020Q1, Real gross domestic product (GDP) of businesses declined 2.6 per cent over 2019Q4, with hours worked down 5.8 per cent. Total compensation per hour worked was up 4.5 per cent over 2019Q4
Unit labour costs increased 1.1 per cent in 2020Q1.
Measured in US dollars, Canada's unit labour costs declined 0.8 per cent in 2020Q1, following a 1.0 per cent increase in 2019Q4. Unit labour costs in US dollars have increased 2.7 per cent since Q1 2019.
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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