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June 03, 2022CANADA BUSINESS SECTOR LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY, Q1 2022 
During Q1 2022, public health measures were initially tightened during the Omicron wave of the pandemic and then subsequently eased in February and March.
Labour productivity of Canadian businesses decreased by 0.5% in Q1 2022 as hours worked grew 1.4% and real business GDP increased by 0.9%.
After spiking during the initial waves of COVID-19 as many low wage workers lost employment, productivity has been declining for seven straight quarters as economic conditions normalized. Labour productivity is now 1.3% lower than in the quarter before the pandemic (Q4 2019), reflecting a 0.5% decline in real GDP from the business sector and a 0.8% increase in hours worked.
Total compensation per hour increased by 2.3% in Q1 2022 after a slight decline at the end of 2021. Employee compensation per hour was 10.8% higher in Q1 2022 than in Q4 2019.
With hourly employee compensation increasing and productivity falling, unit labour costs increased by 2.7% in Q1 2022 and were up 12.2% from Q4 2019.
When measured in US dollars, Canada's business sector unit labour cost increased by 2.2% in Q1 2022. Canada's unit labour costs measured in US dollars were up 17.0% from Q4 2019 to Q1 2022.
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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