“Drop in UK productivity is no surprise” asserts Institute of Directors
Commenting on the latest official productivity figures, which show that output per hour worked fell by 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2015, James Sproule (chief economist at the Institute of Directors) said: “The drop in UK productivity isn’t welcome, but nor is it particularly surprising given the continued strong performance in employment growth. More jobs are clearly a good thing for the people who gain them, but much of the increase in employment in 2015 was realised in areas like accommodation and food services which really add little to the productivity statistics.”
Sproule continued: “The key thing is not to become too worried about one statistic. There’s absolutely no point in comparing ourselves to the pre-crisis productivity trend, which was a feature of a bubble about to pop.”
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