Latest Updates

• Canada Productivity: Q2 2025 2025-09-03 08:30

  

  Canada’s labor productivity fell -1.0% QoQ in Q2 2025, its sharpest drop since Q4 2022, following flat growth in Q1 and a +1.2% gain in Q4 2024.

  • Real GDP of businesses contracted -0.7% QoQ, the first decline in seven quarters, while hours worked rose +0.3% QoQ, half the pace of Q1, leading to weaker productivity.

  • Productivity fell sharply in utilities (-4.0%), wholesale trade (-2.6%), and manufacturing (-2.1%), with the latter two sectors heavily impacted by uncertainty in Canada–US trade.

  • Hours worked increased in 10 of 16 industries, with services up +0.3% and goods-producing industries largely flat; wildfire disruptions had little net impact as lost hours (809,000) were offset by overtime (802,000).

  • Hourly compensation declined -0.5% QoQ, the first drop since Q1 2021, while unit labour costs rose +0.5% QoQ, reflecting higher costs per unit of output amid falling productivity.

  Source
• Canada Productivity: Q1 2025 2025-06-04 08:30
  

  Canada’s labor productivity rose 0.2% QoQ in Q1 2025, a sharp slowdown from the 1.2% gain in Q4 2024, but marked the first back-to-back quarterly gains since the start of the pandemic.

  • Real GDP of businesses increased 0.6% QoQ, while hours worked rebounded 0.4% QoQ after a prior decline.
  • Goods-producing sector productivity rose 0.8% QoQ; services sector productivity declined -0.5% QoQ.
  • Largest industry productivity gains came from wholesale trade (+2.6%), agriculture (+2.0%), and utilities (+1.5%); real estate saw the largest decline (-3.9%).
  • Unit labor costs fell -0.3% QoQ, the first drop in five quarters, as hourly compensation edged down -0.1% QoQ.

  Source
• Canada 2025-03-05 08:30
  

  Canada’s labor productivity increased 0.6% QoQ in Q4 2024, in line with expectations, as GDP grew 0.8% QoQ and hours worked grew just 0.2% QoQ.

  • This was the largest quarterly increase in a year.
  • In 2024, productivity was up 0.6% after declining for three straight years.
  • Service sector productivity increased 0.6% QoQ offsetting a -0.4% QoQ decline in the goods sector.
  • Unit labor costs increased 0.2% QoQ, the lowest increase in a year, as compensation increased 0.8% QoQ.

  Source