U.K. Productivity Malaise Named as ‘Statistic of the Decade’
- Weak output has held back wage growth, living standards
- Royal Statistical Society also noted global climate change
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The U.K.’s dismal productivity performance since the financial crisis has been named the country’s “statistics of the decade” by the Royal Statistical Society.
The society chose “0.3%” -- the estimated average annual increase in productivity in the past 10 years. That compares with the 2% average increase in hourly output in the years before 2008. The performance, the worst since the 1800s, has lagged other major nations and been one of the biggest problems facing Britain’s economy, with implications for wages, wealth and living standards.