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Labour productivity, hourly compensation and unit labour cost, fourth quarter 2020
Labour productivity of Canadian businesses fell 2.0% in the fourth quarter, while hours worked rose faster than business output. The fourth-quarter decline in productivity—though much smaller than the record drop observed in the third quarter (-10.6%)—was still the largest since the fourth quarter of 1986 (-2.1%). For a second straight quarter, both business output and hours worked were up, following record declines for both indicators in the second quarter. Throughout the four quarters of 2020, productivity saw significant ups and downs, driven by the impacts of the pandemic on economic activity and the labour ... (full story)