The Guardian: UK productivity grows by just 0.5% in 2018 amid Brexit uncertainty

05 April 2019

Britain has maintained its dismal productivity record, with the rise in worker efficiency in 2018 only a quarter of the level seen before the financial crisis a decade ago.

Amid fears Brexit uncertainty is set to further damage productivity growth, holding back improvements in living standards, the Office for National Statistics said labour productivity grew by only 0.5% last year compared to 2017.

The measure of economic output per hour of work previously rose by about 2% a year, on average, before the 2008 financial crisis.

In a damning indication of the weakness of the UK economy, the ONS said it had taken a decade to deliver as much productivity growth as was previously achievable in a single year. [...]

Full article on The Guardian

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