§ Mr. Tebbit
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the cumulative increases and the average annual rates of increase in national productivity, measured in terms of output per person employed in the whole economy, in the following periods (a) July 1945 to October 1951, (b) October 1951 to October 1964, (c) October 1964 to June 1970, (d) June 1970 to February 1974 and (e) February 1974 to the latest available date.518W
§ Mr. Denzil Davies,
pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 10th July 1978; Vol. 953, c. 393], gave the following information:
Monthly data permitting comparisons for the periods listed in the Question are not available. Such comparisons as can be made from published data are shown below.
OUTPUT PER PERSON EMPLOYED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: 1970=100 Percentage change Average annual percentage increase 1948–1951 7.0 2.3 1951–1964 31.3 2.1 1964 4th quarter-1970 2nd quarter* 14.5 2.5 1970 2nd quarter-1974 1st quarter* 6.6 1.7 1974 1st quarter-1977 4th quarter*† 3.9 1.0 * Percentages calculated from seasonally adjusted data. † Provisional.
Output is measured by the output-based measure of gross domestic product at constant factor cost. Persons employed include employees in employment, self-employed persons—with or without employees—and Her Majesty's Forces. Full-time and part-time workers are counted as full units. The series of index numbers on which these percentages are based is subject to breaks due to redefinitions between 1949 and 1950 and between 1958 and 1959. The measurement of production during the first quarter of 1974 was particularly difficult because of the restriction to three day working during January and February. Any comparisons involving that quarter are subject to uncertainty.