Moody’s: the slowdown in productivity growth is one of the major global growth risks

The persistent decline in labor productivity growth, one of the key drivers of overall economic performance, corporate profitability and the government tax base, remains among the most significant risks to the outlook for global growth, says Moody’s Investors Service in a new report.

Moody’s expects global growth to accelerate to 3.1 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2018 from 2.7 percent in 2016, as most advanced economies register stable growth and some emerging market economies regain momentum after several years of deceleration.

“Despite the cyclical uptick, we expect global growth to remain significantly below pre-crisis levels in the near term, driven by slower growth in both employment and labor productivity,” says Elena Duggar, an Associate Managing Director at Moody’s. (MTI, Kertész Róbert)