Australia's labor productivity down 0.6 pct in Q1

CANBERRA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Australia's labor productivity fell by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from the government's top economic research body.

In its latest quarterly report, the Productivity Commission (PC) said that labor productivity fell by 0.6 percent in the three-month period to the end of March, while the total number of hours worked by Australians increased by 0.9 percent in the same period.

On an annual basis, productivity grew by 0.3 percent in the year to the end of March compared to 2.2 percent growth in hours worked.

"Australia's labor productivity growth is going from bad to worse," PC Deputy Chair Alex Robson wrote in the report.

"The accounting is straightforward: the value of goods and services we produce is increasing, but not by as much as hours worked. In aggregate, we are working harder and longer, but we are not working smarter."

In its most recent set of projections released in May, the central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia, forecast that productivity growth would be stagnant in the 12 months to the end of June and rise slightly to 0.2 percent in the year to December. Enditem