UK productivity sees further fall
Productivity of UK workers has fallen for the second quarter in a row, official figures indicated.
Hourly output fell 0.1 percent in the April-june period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, BBC wrote.
This follows a 0.5 percent decline in the first three months of the year.
Economists have warned that the UK’S productivity continues to lag behind its major trading partners such as the US, France and Germany.
The ONS said the fall represented a continuation of the UK’S ‘productivity puzzle’, referring to the relative stagnation of labor productivity since the financial crisis.
Long-term challenge
The ONS pointed to differences between the manufacturing and services sectors. Services output per hour grew by 0.2 percent, with output growth outpacing growth in hours worked.
In contrast, the ONS said, manufacturing output fell while hours grew, so labor productivity in manufacturing declined by 1.3 percent during the quarter.
On an annual basis, covering the 12 months after the UK voted to leave the EU, hourly output fell 0.3 percent from June 2016 to June 2017.
The last time the ONS recorded a fall in annual productivity of that magnitude was in the year to September 2013.
The UK has seen a steady economic recovery since the financial crisis, but it has been helped by longer hours and more people working.
Productivity has failed to grow consistently, raising concerns for businesses and policymakers.
A Treasury spokesperson said, “Productivity has been a long-term challenge, which is why we must invest now to step up our performance.”
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