Table 1
Business sector: Labour productivity and related variables for Canada and the United States1 – Seasonally adjusted

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Business sector: Labour productivity and related variables for Canada and the United States1 – Seasonally adjusted
  First quarter 2010 Second quarter 2010 Third quarter 2010 Fourth quarter 2010 First quarter 2011 Second quarter 2011 Third quarter 2011 Fourth quarter 2011 First quarter 2012
  % change from previous quarter
Canada                  
Labour productivity 0.8 -0.7 0.8 0.1 0.7 -1.0 0.7 0.7 0.1
Real gross domestic product 1.6 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.1 -0.5 1.4 0.5 0.5
Hours worked 0.9 1.2 -0.2 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.7 -0.2 0.4
Hourly compensation 0.7 0.1 1.4 0.7 1.3 -0.0 -0.1 1.5 0.5
Unit labour cost -0.1 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.5 1.0 -0.7 0.8 0.4
Exchange rate2 1.5 1.2 -1.1 2.6 2.7 1.9 -1.3 -4.2 2.3
Unit labour cost in US dollars 1.4 2.1 -0.5 3.3 3.3 2.9 -2.0 -3.5 2.6
United States3                  
Labour productivity 1.0 0.3 0.6 0.3 -0.4 -0.0 0.4 0.3 -0.2
Real gross domestic product 1.3 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.1 0.4 0.7 0.9 0.6
Hours worked 0.2 0.9 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.6 0.8
Hourly compensation 0.3 0.6 0.5 -0.0 1.2 -0.0 1.3 -0.1 0.1
Unit labour cost -0.7 0.3 -0.1 -0.3 1.7 0.0 0.9 -0.4 0.3
  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Second quarter 2011 Third quarter 2011 Fourth quarter 2011 First quarter 2012
  % change from the previous year % change from same quarter of previous year
Canada                  
Labour productivity -0.3 -0.8 0.0 1.5 0.8 0.6 0.4 1.1 0.5
Real gross domestic product 1.9 -0.3 -4.5 3.4 2.6 2.0 2.8 2.5 1.9
Hours worked 2.1 0.5 -4.5 1.9 1.8 1.4 2.3 1.3 1.4
Hourly compensation 3.5 3.1 2.0 2.3 2.9 3.4 1.9 2.7 1.9
Unit labour cost 3.8 3.9 1.9 0.8 2.1 2.8 1.5 1.6 1.4
Exchange rate2 6.0 0.9 -6.7 10.3 4.1 6.2 6.0 -1.0 -1.5
Unit labour cost in US dollars 10.1 4.7 -4.9 11.3 6.4 9.2 7.6 0.6 -0.1
United States3                  
Labour productivity 1.5 0.7 2.5 4.0 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.4
Real gross domestic product 2.0 -1.3 -4.9 3.9 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.6
Hours worked 0.5 -2.0 -7.2 -0.0 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.2
Hourly compensation 4.1 3.3 1.7 1.9 2.2 1.6 2.5 2.4 1.3
Unit labour cost 2.6 2.6 -0.8 -2.0 2.0 1.2 2.3 2.3 0.9
1.
Calculations of growth rates are based on index numbers rounded to three decimal places.
2.
The exchange rate corresponds to the Canadian dollar value expressed in US dollars.
3.
US data are from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Productivity and costs: First quarter 2012 published in NEWS, June 6.