2014 saw the UK grow faster than any of the G7 countries, but at the cost of having one of the lowest productivities. To quote the Economist “The French could take Friday off and still produce more than Britons do in a week…A British employee produces a fifth less than a French one, but he or she is more than a third cheaper to hire.”
GDP per hour worked, for example, is lower in the UK than the USA, Germany, France Italy and Canada. To get more efficient requires investment in skills and infrastructure and the UK has the lowest of the G20. The employment story has been one of success since the crisis (unless you are one of the 963,000 young people aged from 16 to 24 in the UK who were not in education, employment or training). Cheap workers from immigration have been the boon to the economy so far, but to get to the next level requires growth and productivity, which means more investment in skills and infrastructure. Go figure.
