Productivity increase in Autumn 2017 the best for six years.

Labour productivity, or the rate of growth in economic output per hour worked, grew by 0.9% in the three months to September 2017, according to fitures released this week by the Office for National Statistics.
This is the best quarterly rise for six years.
Causes of the improvement include stronger growth in factory output.
Productivity is an economic measure of the efficiency of a workforce. It typically measures the level of output per hour of work, or per worker.
A more productive workforce signals stronger growth and healthier public finances. Productivity gains are vital to economic prosperity because it signals that more is being achieved by workers in less time. Gains are typically achieved through advances in technology and increased skill levels within a workforce.
Productivity growth in the UK has been a problem for decades and particularly weak since the recession hit ten years ago. This is one of the main reasons why real incomes have stagnated or only grown slowly in that time.
Hence an upturn in productivity growth is good news - it will be much better news if we can make sure it becomes not just a one-off but the start of a trend.

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