Labour productivity in the UK, as measured by output per hour, grew by 0.7% in the fourth-quarter of 2017 ended December when compared with the previous quarter, according to new data released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). This is the second quarter in a row that output per hour grew, after falling in the first half of 2017.

ONS data added that output per worker and output per job both grew by 0.1% between the third and fourth quarter; the difference between these two measures and output per hour reflects a fall in average hours per job and per worker.

Labour productivity grew in both services and manufacturing industries; services productivity grew by 0.3% on the previous quarter and manufacturing productivity grew by 2.6% in the same period.

ONS deputy chief economist Richard Heys, commented, “This is a second successive quarter of strong productivity growth, although much of it comes from a fall in average hours worked. However, a weak start to the year means annual growth was only 1.0%, half the historic average rate.”