Article Summary. According to the Office for National Statistics in the United
Kingdom, productivity in the UK in 2012 was well below the average of the G7
countries, only faring better than Japan. The G7 is a group of the seven most
industrialized countries, and includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. Compared to the G7 average, the UK was
16% less productive per hour worked, and output was 19% worse when measured
on a per worker basis. The productivity gap was the largest for the UK since 1994.
Worker productivity has increased in all of the G7 nations except for the UK since
2007, where it has fallen by two percentage points. The most productive workers
were in the United States, where workers were 29 percentage points more
productive per hour worked than in the UK.
Source: “UK workers much less productive than others in the G7,” Guardian,
September 18, 2013.
Unlike in the UK, labor productivity in the other G7 nations has increased since 2007.
An increase in labor productivity
A) will increase the labor force participation rate.
B) allows the average consumer to increase consumption.
C) will create short-run, but not long-run, economic growth.
D) will increase output and decrease wages in the long run.
The demand curve for labor is also
A) the demand curve for the output produced with labor since the demand for labor is a
derived demand.
B) the marginal product of labor curve.
C) the marginal revenue product of labor curve.
D) the supply curve for the output labor is used to produce.