Week 33, 2012: UK GDP Per Worker

Summary: This week there was the welcome, but perhaps surprising, news that unemployment fell again last quarter, despite the poor GDP growth figures. This ultimately means that each worker is producing less of the national GDP.

What does the chart show? The chart shows seasonally adjusted quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) at 1999 market prices, per person in work in the UK (aged 16 and over).  While GDP per capita (including all of the population) is a better measure of wealth, GDP per worker is a measure of productivity.

Why is the chart interesting? Despite the good news that employment levels are rising in the UK, GDP continues to shrink.  Assuming this is not the result of a measuring error, this must mean that productivity is falling.  This chart shows that this is indeed the case; output per worker rose by £4,000 in the fifteen years between 1992 and 2007, but has dropped sharply since then, and particularly in the last three quarters.