A Detailed Analysis of Newfoundland and Labrador's Productivity Performance, 1997-2018

• Main Authors: Andrew Sharpe, John Tsang
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2019-06.pdf

The main goal of this report is to describe and explain the trends in productivity in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as trends in the variables used in the calculation of productivity, including output, labour input, and capital input. The main take-away from the report is the importance of the oil and gas sector to the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador. That sector has been responsible for most of Newfoundland and Labrador's economic growth, and now accounts for the largest share of the province’s business sector value added among 2-digit NAICS subsectors, even though it employed only 3.8 per cent of the province’s business sector workers in 2018. Due to the size of the mining and oil and gas extraction sector, its productivity performance strongly affects the performance of the overall business sector, which continues to represent a major challenge for the province. However, looking at the business sector excluding mining and oil and gas, productivity growth does fare better. The data can be split in two periods. Driven by the mining and oil and gas extraction sector, Newfoundland and Labrador’s overall productivity experienced impressive growth from 1997 to 2007, with real business sector productivity advancing at a compound annual rate of 6.0 per cent. The situation changed dramatically after 2007 when oil and gas productivity plummeted. Real business sector productivity in the province declined during the 2007-2018 period at a rate of 1.2 per cent per year Productivity, Output, Labour input, Capital input, Newfoundland and Labrador, Oil and mining