21236 – Labour Productivity

Labour Productivity (21236) measures how fast output per hour worked is growing across the whole economy: the change over the year in real GDP per hour worked. Higher readings mean faster productivity growth. It belongs to the Employment & GDP family (21230) and is read in its own right.

Productivity growth sets how fast real wages and living standards can rise over time. The market-sector measure, which excludes industries whose output is hard to measure, is shown as a benchmark.

Primary metric: Node Z-Score (Z₂₁₂₃₆)

Metric typology: single-series Z-score of a growth rate. Benchmark, shown as context: market-sector labour productivity fell 0.17% in 2024-25.

Tier-1 sovereign statistical releases. No commercial data provider dependency exists within this node.

The chart shows the node’s reading in every quarter, measured against the 2011–2025 baseline.

At −0.5493σ (Q2 2026), output per hour worked fell 0.20% over the year, against a 2011–2025 average gain of 0.74%. Position. 18.2, ranked against 188 quarters since September 1979.

The reading is the lowest since March 2025 and follows two quarters of modest gains in the second half of 2025. Hours worked grew 2.35% over the year while output grew more slowly, so output per hour fell. The lowest reading on record, −3.3760σ, came in March 2023 as hours recovered after the pandemic; the highest, +2.6461σ, in December 1992.

The other nodes of the Employment & GDP family. Only Labour Market Tightness (21231) and Growth per Person (21235) compose into Employment & GDP (21230); the others are read in their own right.