2% was stronger than in most other OECD countries. .
It is also important to note that between 1970 and 1989 Australia's labour productivity grew by an average 1.3% per annum compared to the OECD average of 1.9%. Total or multifactor productivity in Australia grew by 0.7%, well below the OECD average of 1.3% in the same period [Refer to source]. But with successful labour market and other reforms in the 1990s, Australia's rate of labour productivity improved to average around 1.5% between 1989 and 1998, outperforming the OECD average of 1.3%. Significantly, these impressive productivity performance since the beginning of the 1990s has restored relative productivity and GDP per person to the position held in 1950s. This improvement in productivity can be attributed to the adoption of more flexible labour market practices including enterprise bargaining; the range of microeconomic reform measures introduced to make markets more competitive and the increasing absorption of new technologies which has led to capital deepening in the labour force. .
Furthermore, productivity gains are ultimately the key goals of successful microeconomic policies. Microeconomic policies are also complementary to the government's macroeconomic strategy. If the government can achieve internal and external balance in the short to medium term, microeconomic policy can operate simultaneously to improve the efficiency of resource allocation in the economy in the long term. This involves changing the structure of the economy (i.e. structural change) to make it more productive; efficient and more competitive. Structural or microeconomic reform is a global phenomenon as many countries are attempting to make their internal markets function more efficiently to improve their international competitiveness and participate more successfully in the global market to realise the gains form trade. For this reason both microeconomic and macroeconomic policies have been the focus of government policy since the 1980s.
