Strong economic growth helped Canada's productivity outstrip that of the United States in the first quarter, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

Between January and March, Canada's labour productivity growth accelerated to 0.7 per cent, much higher than the 0.2 per cent growth seen in the last quarter of 2006.

In the United States, quarterly productivity growth was lacklustre. U.S. productivity increased only 0.1 per cent between January and March, a slower growth than in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Productivity gains occur when GDP rises faster than the number of hours worked. Rising productivity results in a higher standard of living.

"The gap in productivity growth between the two countries stems primarily from the difference in business sector real GDP growth," Statistics Canada said. "For the first time in over a year, the United States experienced a significantly weaker GDP growth than Canada in the first quarter."

Growth in goods, services

Statistics Canada said both the services-producing and goods-producing industries made positive contributions to the overall productivity performance in the first three months of this year.

Gains were seen in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, along with wholesale and retail trade, and finance and insurance services.