State of the economy: October 2018

Labour Productivity

The stronger pace of output growth over the past year alongside the continued strength in the labour market corresponds to the rebound in labour productivity performance over the period.

In Q1 2018, Scottish labour productivity (output per hour worked) grew by 1.7% over the quarter following growth of 2.1% in the previous quarter.

Scotland Productivity Growth

However, despite the stronger quarterly growth profile, on the more stable rolling annual basis (comparing the latest 4 quarters with the previous 4 quarters) labour productivity continues to be slightly weaker, falling 0.4% over the period.

While less negative than previously, it reflects that over the year, the growth in average hours worked continued to outpace growth in GVA (1.7% and 1.3% respectively).