Article content

At least once a quarter, Statistics Canada publishes data on how aggressively mediocre we are.

Most indicators jump around, making us look like world beaters one day and losers the next. But StatCan’s quarterly calculations of labour productivity can be counted on to remind us that the grit we think makes us special on the ice is missing from many of our non-hockey battles.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada's economic mediocrity dilemma: 'In the new world, bronze doesn't even show up' Back to video

Labour productivity, the amount of gross domestic product generated per hour of work, dropped 0.4 per cent over the final three months of 2018 from the previous period, according to StatCan’s latest report in March. That followed quarterly increases of 0.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent and a 0.3-per-cent drop in the first quarter.

The United States did better, as it usually does. And early this week, the U.S. Labor Department reported that non-farm labour productivity surged to its fastest rate since 2014 in the first quarter. StatCan hasn’t published similar figures yet. Marker down.