Statistics Canada said labour productivity in the Canadian business sector rose marginally in first three months of 2005 compared with the previous quarter, continuing its anaemic performance of the past two years.

The government agency said productivity edged up 0.2% during the first three months of this year compared with the last three months of 2004.

Meanwhile, productivity in the United States increased by 0.6%, three times the growth rate in Canada.

StatsCan said the gap stems entirely from more rapid U.S. economic growth and occurred as the Canadian dollar gained strength.

Productivity rises when gross domestic product increases at a faster pace than the number of hours worked.