UK productivity crisis deepens

THE productivity of British workers has fallen at its fastest rate in five years, according to official figures.

Output per hour between April and June was 0.5pc lower than it was in the same period last year.

That was the biggest fall since the second quarter of 2014 with analysts warning that Brexit uncertainty has dented investment and productivity.

The Office for National Statistics figures came as the pound fell against the dollar and the euro.

Economists believe higher productivity boosts economic growth and improves standards of living.

The data will be grim reading for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said he would ‘drive up the productivity of this country’. Britain has seen no growth in productivity since the second quarter of 2018.