08:54 AM EST, 12/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Labor productivity of Canadian businesses fell 0.4% quarter over quarter in Q3, after edging down by 0.1% in Q2 and by 0.2% in Q1, said the country's statistical agency Wednesday.

Q3's 0.4% quarter-over-quarter decline was a tad higher than the 0.3% slip expected by Scotiabank and Bank of Montreal (BMO).

The decline in productivity in the third quarter reflects the slowdown in the pace of growth in business output, while hours worked continued to increase at a rate fairly similar to that of the previous two quarters, wrote Statistics Canada in a statement.

Growth in the real gross domestic product of businesses slowed to 0.1% in Q3 after rising 0.5% in the previous quarter.

Hours worked in the business sector rose for the third consecutive quarter, increasing by 0.5% in Q3. This growth rate is close to that of the previous two quarters.

Goods-producing businesses saw their productivity fall by 0.7% in Q3, after rising 0.3% in the previous quarter. As for service-producing businesses, their productivity declined for a third consecutive quarter, falling 0.3% in Q3.

Overall, 11 of the 16 main business sectors were down in Q3, pointed out StatsCan.

Since productivity declined 0.4% in Q3 the 1.0% rise in hourly compensation in the quarter resulted in a 1.4% increase in unit labor costs of businesses. This was a faster rate of growth than the 0.8% in Q2.