Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday the labour productivity of Canadian businesses increased 0.3 percent in the first quarter 2019, after an unrevised 0.4 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent gain.

According to the report, the slight rebound in productivity primarily reflected the decline in hours worked (-0.3 percent) following seven consecutive quarterly increases, while business output remained virtually unchanged.