Published: 2024-06-05
Quarterly labor productivity
First quarter 2024
-0.3%
(quarterly change)
Labor productivity falls after a quarter of growth
Labor productivity at Canadian companies decreased 0.3% in the first quarter, after an increase of 0.2% in the previous quarter.
In the first quarter, business production grew moderately, as in the previous quarter. At the same time, hours worked recovered, registering growth that exceeded that of production.
Real gross domestic product of businesses increased 0.1% in the first quarter, similar to the increase recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Hours worked increase again after two quarters of little change
Hours worked in the business sector increased by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2024, after registering slight variations in each of the previous two quarters.
The increase in hours worked in the first quarter reflects the 0.4% growth in the number of jobs, while the average hours worked remained unchanged.
In the first quarter, hours worked in service-producing companies registered an increase of 0.6%, after the stability of the previous quarter. In contrast, after declining slightly in the previous two quarters, hours worked at goods-producing companies remained unchanged for the second time in a year.
Overall, hours worked increased in 9 of the 16 industry sectors in the first quarter and remained relatively stable in 4: mining and oil and gas extraction, construction, retail trade, and transportation and warehousing.
Productivity falls in half of industrial sectors
In total, productivity fell in half of the 16 industrial sectors in the first quarter, while it was essentially unchanged in construction, real estate services and other business services.
Manufacturing and, to a lesser extent, professional services and administrative services were the main contributors to the overall decline in productivity in the first quarter. The declines observed in these three sectors were mostly offset by strong productivity increases in the agricultural and forestry sector and, to a lesser extent, in accommodation and food services, as well as transportation and storage services.
Unit labor costs rise at a faster pace in the first quarter
In the first quarter, productivity fell 0.3%, while hourly compensation (+1.0%) increased at a much faster pace than in the previous quarter (+0.4%). As a result, companies' unit labor costs increased by 1.3%. This was much higher than the growth seen in the previous quarter (+0.2%).
Unit labor costs represent the costs of wages and benefits that a company pays its workers to produce a unit of output.
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Sustainable development goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative action plan that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The release "Labor Productivity, Hourly Compensation and Unit Labor Costs" is an example of how Statistics Canada supports reporting on the global situation. SDG. This version will be used to help measure the following objective:
Note to readers
Reviews
With this release, the data was revised to the first quarter of 2023 at an aggregate and industry level. These revisions are consistent with those incorporated in the quarterly gross domestic product release (GDP) by income and expenses and the monthly publication GDP by industry, published on May 31, 2024.
This release also incorporates new 2023 baseline data on provincial and territorial labor productivity and related measures, published on May 21, 2024.
In addition, in the fourth quarter of 2023, changes were introduced to the job estimation methodology.-1997 data in the non-commercial sector. More specifically, this methodology aimed to reduce modeling and ensure better control at the microdata level for the government sector, which is part of the non-business sector. For the first quarter of 2024, additional adjustments have been applied to pre-1997 years to ensure continued comparability of data over time. Without prior adjustment, these changes could have caused breaks in the data trends. These changes only affect the breakdown of the total economy between the business and non-business sectors, but not the total economy itself.
Productivity measures
The term productivity In this statement it refers to labor productivity. For the purposes of this analysis, labor productivity and related variables cover only the business sector.
Labor productivity is a measure of real GDP per hour worked.
Unit labor cost It is defined as the cost of workers' salaries and benefits per unit of real value. GDP.
The method of measuring actual output in the business sector differs from that used in industry estimates. For the business sector, production is measured using the expenditure-based method. GDP focus on market prices. This approach is similar to that used for quarterly productivity measures in the United States. However, production by industry is based on value added at basic prices.
All growth rates reported in this release are rounded to one decimal place. They are calculated with index numbers rounded to three decimal places, which are now available in data tables.
All basic variables necessary for productivity analyzes (such as hours worked, employment, production, and compensation) are seasonally adjusted. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Next release
Data on labor productivity, hourly compensation and unit labor cost for the second quarter will be published on September 5.
Products
The document "Measuring labor productivity in Statistics Canada", which is part of Latest developments in Canadian economic accounts (13-605-X), It is now available.
The study, "Canadian regional labor statistics and interregional movements of wage workers, 2001 to 2021", which is part of Latest developments in Canadian economic accounts (13-605-X), is available.
He Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects from the Statistics Canada website, presents an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structures.
He Latest developments in Canadian economic accounts (13-605-X) is available.
He User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is available.
He Methodological guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
contact information
For more information or to inquire about the concepts, methods, or data quality of this release, please contact us (toll-free number 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
