Between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, output per hour grew by 0.5 per cent, down from an increase of 1.0 per cent in the previous quarter. On an annual basis, total hours worked grew by 0.5 per cent, the same growth rate as in the previous quarter. On a quarter on previous quarter basis, total hours worked increased by 0.3 per cent, up from a fall of 0.3 percent in quarter four.
In the Q1 the manufacturing productivity, on an output per job basis was 3.2 per cent higher than the same quarter of 2005, up from a growth of 1.2 per cent for the previous quarter.
The increase in the annual productivity growth figure was due to a lower fall in output than in the previous quarter. Manufacturing output showed a fall of 0.4 per cent, compared with a fall of 2.1 per cent in the previous quarter. Productivity jobs declined at a rate of 3.4 per cent, down from a fall of 3.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
On a quarterly basis, manufacturing productivity grew by 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2006, up from a fall of 0.3 per cent in the previous quarter. This increase in quarterly productivity was due to an increase in the growth rate of manufacturing output from -0.9 per cent to +0.9 per cent and an increase in the rate of decline of productivity jobs from 0.6 per cent to 1.0 per cent.
In the first quarter of 2006 manufacturing output per hour grew by 2.5 per cent, on a year-on-year basis. The majority of the manufacturing subsections showed growth in output per job on an annual basis. The most significant year-on-year increase was recorded in the textiles and leather industry at 14.7 per cent.
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