Productivity usually bounces back after a recession – why hasn't it?

The decade-long flatlining of Britain's economy has hit living standards - firms have to be weaned off plentiful, low-skill labour to invest in new kit

Britain's economy has moved sideways over the past decade. That's the main message from the latest set of official figures for productivity which, once again, are dismal.

It is not just that the performance in the first three months of 2017 was poor. The 0.5% quarterly drop in output per hour worked meant productivity fell back below where it was in the last quarter of 2007, the period immediately before the economy nosedived into recession.

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