UK Labour Productivity Rebounds 1.1% to June 2026 as Economists See Recovery Taking Hold
Updated
Updated · Букви · Aug 24
UK Labour Productivity Rebounds 1.1% to June 2026 as Economists See Recovery Taking Hold
3 articles · Updated · Букви · Aug 24
Summary
1.1% annual growth in UK output per hour over the two years to June 2026 marks a sharp turnaround from a 0.7% annual decline in the previous two years, according to Resolution Foundation estimates.
That rebound challenges official data showing further deterioration, because the Office for National Statistics' main productivity measure relied on a worker survey whose response rates fell sharply after the pandemic.
Private-sector productivity may be rising even faster—Bruna Skarica estimates 1.8% a year—while Simon Pittaway said gains were spread across sectors and came from the same workers in the same jobs, not from low-productivity job losses.
Economists say the pattern increasingly resembles the United States, where post-pandemic productivity accelerated earlier, and some see AI as a possible tailwind for the UK's services-heavy economy even as its current impact remains disputed.
A sustained recovery would matter beyond growth, offering scope to lift living standards and ease fiscal pressure from an ageing population and higher defence spending.