Labour must learn lessons from history as automation hits jobs market | Richard Partington

Productivity is up in retail and other low-paying sectors as tech replaces relatively expensive humans

Walk through a supermarket and the technology is everywhere. Self-service checkouts, electronic shelf labels, handheld barcode scanners and the video screens showing you - caught by AI facial recognition cameras - leaving the shop.

In an economy struggling for growth, the encroachment of these machines in our everyday lives could be an early sign of a new dawn - a tech-driven renaissance in activity after years of flatlining growth in productivity and stalled business investment. No bad thing.