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mpc: 20 As the Committee had discussed in previous meetings, the relative robustness of the labour market sat uncomfortably with the weakness of the output data. Together, these data implied that measured annual labour productivity growth, on a per hour basis, had fallen to its lowest since 1989. There were a number of possible explanations. It could be that output growth had been under- recorded. Employment growth may have been over-recorded, perhaps because previously unmeasured migrant labour was now being picked up in official statistics. The greater use of relatively low-cost migrant labour may have reduced the incentives for companies to improve productivity; alternatively, there may have been a decline in trend productivity growth, although this appeared unlikely. Finally, companies may have been hoarding labour in the belief that the output slowdown would prove temporary. If this latter explanation were correct, it was puzzling that there had been no fall in average hours worked, although this could reflect measurement issues.