Labour productivity in the UK, as measured by output per hour, fell by 0.1% in Q2 2017 when compared with the previous quarter, according to new data released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The data from ONS reports labour productivity estimates for the second quarter ending in June 2017 for the whole economy and a range of industries, together with estimates of unit labour costs.

Meanwhile, data from ONS also showed that UK labour productivity was 15.1% below the average for the rest of the G7 advanced economies in 2016; this compares with 15.5% in 2015.

Labour productivity in the UK grew in services but fell in the manufacturing industries; services productivity grew by 0.2% on the previous quarter, while manufacturing productivity fell by 1.3%.

Earnings and other labour costs growth outpaced productivity growth, resulting in unit labour cost growth of 2.4% in the year to Q2 2017.

“A fall of 0.1% contrasts with a long period of average productivity growth prior to the economic downturn, and represents a continuation of the UK's “productivity puzzle”. This term refers to the relative stagnation of labour productivity since the recent economic downturn. This is in contrast with patterns following previous UK economic downturns where productivity initially fell, but subsequently bounced back to the previous trend rate of growth,” the report said.