UK productivity drops in final quarter of 2015

Biggest fall in productivity since financial crisis puts pressure on chancellor to prove plan to increase output can work

A sharp drop in British productivity has cast further doubt over the country's economic prospects and will add to pressure on the government to prove its productivity plan can bear fruit.

Official figures show labour productivity, as measured by output per hour, fell by 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2015 from the third quarter, the biggest fall since the financial crisis in 2008.