The TUC Budget statement said the UK is over reliant on special monetary measures, such as rock-bottom interest rates, and rising household debt.
It said business investment growth is weak and UK investment is the lowest of OECD countries as a share of GDP. It added that the UK should prioritise investment in skills, infrastructure and innovation.
The main problem comes down to a lack of productivity, the TUC said, as if typical earnings had continued to grow at the same rate as before 2008 the workers would make an extra £95 a week.
The TUC said productivity gains must be shared with the working people in the years ahead.
Its general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The Chancellor can say what he likes in the Budget; the history books already record him as the man who delivered the slowest recovery in modern history.
“The government’s failure to get productivity growing again has hit workers in the pocket, leaving them £100 a week worse off.
“It’s time the government stopped blaming others for its failure to mend the economy and took responsibility for delivering high productivity growth that everyone shares in."
He added: “A new round of extreme cuts will do nothing to increase productivity and will harm growth and wages. We need strong, sustainable growth, which can only be delivered with a major programme of investment in skills, infrastructure, innovation and high quality public services.
“As productivity growth is restored, the government must ensure workers get their fair share through higher wages and decent working conditions. Britain’s working people are the true wealth creators and they deserve better than the crumbs from the boardroom table.”
