Sluggish exports drag labor productivity down 2.3 percent

Labor productivity fell in the first quarter of 2012 from a year earlier due to sluggish exports and weak domestic consumption, a government report showed yesterday.

According to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the labor productivity index for all industries in the January to March period fell 2.3 percent on-year to 104.6, compared to 107 tallied a year earlier.
The figure also decelerated from 107.2 reached in the fourth quarter of last year, it said.

Labor productivity, which excludes the farming and fishing sectors, is measured by dividing total industrial output with total labor input during a given period of time.

The quarterly report showed labor input rising 5.1 percent, but industrial output gaining just 2.7 percent.

“The decline is the result of more people being hired but output being hurt by persistent eurozone woes,” the ministry said.

Yonhap