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June 08, 2023CANADA BUSINESS SECTOR LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY, Q1 2023 
Labour productivity of Canadian businesses declined at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2.4% from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023. Hours worked increased by 5.5% and output was up 3.1%.
This was the fourth consecutive decline in labour productivity and the tenth decline in the last 11 quarters since productivty spiked in the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic as employment loss was concentrated in lower-productivity industries.
Total compensation per hour increased at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2.7% in Q1 2023, the fifth consecutive increase after a slight decline at the end of 2021. Growth in employee compensation combined with a decline in productivity resulted in 5.2% annualized growth in unit labour costs of Canadian businesses in Q1 2023. This was the fifth consecutive quarterly increase in the unit labour costs.
Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0206-01 Indexes of business sector labour productivity, unit labour cost and related variables
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