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September 02, 2022CANADA BUSINESS SECTOR LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY, Q2 2022 
With the lifting of pandemic related restrictions in the second quarter, labour productivity of Canadian businesses increased by 0.2% from Q1 2022 to Q2 2022. Hours worked increased by 0.7% while output was up 0.9%.
The was the first increase in productivity following seven consecutive quarters of decline. After spiking during the initial waves of COVID-19 as many low wage workers lost employment, productivity has been falling as economic conditions normalized and lower productivity industries were able to return to normal operations.
Labour productivity remained 1.3% lower than in the quarter before the pandemic (Q4 2019), reflecting a 0.4% increase in real GDP from the business sector and a 1.7% increase in hours worked.
Total compensation per hour increased by 2.2% in Q2 2022, the second consecutive increase after a slight decline at the end of 2021. Employee compensation per hour was 13.0% higher in Q2 2022 than in Q4 2019. With hourly employee compensation outpacing productivity growth, unit labour costs increased by 2.0% in Q2 2022 and were up 14.5% from Q4 2019.
When measured in US dollars, Canada's business sector unit labour cost increased by 1.1% in Q2 2022. Canada's unit labour costs measured in US dollars were up 18.4% from Q4 2019 to Q2 2022.
Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0206-01 Indexes of business sector labour productivity, unit labour cost and related variables
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