This supports the view that there has been an increase in trend productivity growth. In addition, the recent improved productivity performance is even more remarkable, given that the decline in the unemployment rate to almost a 30-year low might have been expected to result in employment of lower-skilled and hence less-productive workers.
Finally, I should also emphasise that we do not regard recent monetary developments as posing a risk to price stability. Although the annual growth rates of M3 have picked up significantly in recent months, we need to keep in mind that this happened in an economic and financial environment characterised by exceptionally high uncertainty throughout the world.