INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY
AND UNIT LABOR COST TRENDS, 1998
In the United States, labor productivity in manufacturing
increased by 4.1 percent in 1998, the same increase as in 1997,
according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.
Department of Labor. Although below Germany's 4.3 percent gain in
productivity, it was the second highest growth rate among the 11
countries being compared. Other countries showing significant
increases in labor productivity (output per hour) were France, Sweden,
and Norway. (See table A and chart 1.)
These estimates represent preliminary estimates for 1998, as well
as revisions to the estimates through 1997 contained in a March 1999
news release (USDL: 99-63). The foreign estimates are based on data
available as of June 1999; the U.S. estimates are based on data
available in August 1999. The U.S. output series used for
international comparisons differs from the manufacturing series that
BLS publishes quarterly on U.S. productivity and costs.
Unit labor costs - the cost of labor input required to produce one
unit of output - are computed as the ratio of labor costs in nominal
terms divided by real output. Unit labor costs also can be expressed as
the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity. An increase in
productivity represents a decrease in the amount of labor input needed
to produce a unit of output; thus, an increase in productivity can
offset an increase in compensation per hour in its effects on unit labor
costs.
In 1998, unit labor costs in manufacturing, expressed in national
currency units, rose in 7 of the 14 countries being compared and
declined in the other 7. The biggest increases were in the United
Kingdom (up 4.7 percent) and Norway (up 3.9 percent). The biggest
declines occurred in Korea (down 7.7 percent) and in Germany (down 3.3
percent).
In order to properly assess international competitiveness trends
in manufactured products, it is essential to take into account changes
in exchange rates. The exchange rates of all the currencies, except
the U.K. pound, declined against the U.S. dollar during 1998. The
biggest drops took place in East Asia - Japanese yen (down 7.6
percent), Taiwanese dollar (down 14.2 percent), and Korean won (down
32.1 percent). (See table A.)
The result of these exchange rate movements was that 1998 unit
labor costs, expressed in U.S. dollars, declined in all the countries
except the U.S. and the U.K. The steepest declines occurred in Asia,
especially in Korea and Taiwan. Dollar-denominated unit labor costs
rose by 0.2 percent in the U.S. and by 5.9 percent in the U.K. (See
chart 2.)
The 1998 measures of changes in manufacturing productivity, unit
labor costs, and related variables are summarized in table A below.
Output and unit labor cost data are presented for all 14 economies.
Comparable productivity data have not been developed for Korea and
Taiwan. Productivity data for Denmark are not shown because the Danish
national statistical agency has not produced recent data on hours
worked. (See technical notes.)
Table A. Manufacturing productivity and labor costs in 14 countries or areas
Percent change, 1997-98
Output Emp- Ave- Hourly Unit labor costs
Country per Out- loy- rage compen- National U.S. Exchange
or area hour put Hours ment hours sation currency dollars rate (1)
United States 4.1 4.2 0.1 0.5 - 0.4 4.3 0.2 0.2 ---
Canada 0.7 3.9 3.2 3.7 - 0.6 3.9 3.2 - 3.7 - 6.7
Japan 0.3 - 5.5 - 5.8 - 4.2 - 1.7 0.7 0.4 - 7.2 - 7.6
Korea (2) NA - 7.2 NA NA NA NA - 7.7 -37.4 -32.1
Taiwan (2) NA 3.9 NA NA NA NA - 1.1 -15.2 -14.2
Belgium 0.5 2.6 2.0 1.8 0.2 0.6 0.1 - 1.3 - 1.4
Denmark (3) NA 4.6 NA 2.3 NA NA - 0.4 - 1.8 - 1.4
France 3.4 3.9 0.5 0.2 0.3 1.4 - 1.9 - 2.9 - 1.0
Germany (4) 4.3 5.2 0.8 - 0.2 1.1 0.8 - 3.3 - 4.7 - 1.4
Italy 0.2 1.9 1.7 1.9 - 0.2 - 0.9 - 1.1 - 3.0 - 1.9
Netherlands 1.6 2.4 0.7 0.8 - 0.1 0.2 - 1.4 - 2.9 - 1.6
Norway 2.1 2.8 0.7 0.6 0.0 6.1 3.9 - 2.5 - 6.2
Sweden 2.2 4.4 2.2 2.3 - 0.1 2.7 0.6 - 3.3 - 3.9
United Kingdom 1.0 0.3 - 0.7 - 0.4 - 0.3 5.7 4.7 5.9 1.2
(1) Value of foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar.
(2) Productivity not available because adequate labor input measures have not been developed.
(3) Labor input data have not been produced for 1994-1998 by the Danish national statistical agency.
(4) Data relate to the former West Germany.
NA=Not Available
Although the productivity measure relates output to the hours of
persons employed in manufacturing, it does not measure the specific
contributions of labor as a single factor of production. Rather, it
reflects the joint effects of many influences, including new
technology, capital investment, capacity utilization, energy use, and
managerial skills, as well as the skills and efforts of the work force.
Table B (pages 7-11) shows average annual percent changes for
selected periods beginning in 1979. Annual indexes of the data are in
tables 1-14 (pages 17-30).
Notes about the measures
The measures in this news release are based on foreign data available to
BLS as of June 1999 and U.S. data available as of August 1999.
Revisions for 1997 and some earlier years were made to the measures for
several countries to incorporate data not available at the time of the
March 1999 news release (USDL: 99-63).
The U.S. manufacturing output measure
The output measure for the United States is the chain-weighted index of
real gross product originating (deflated value-added), introduced by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, in
August 1996. This series is based on annually changing price weights.
The U.S. output data through 1997 were published by BEA in November
1998. The data incorporate the results of the comprehensive revision of
the national income and product accounts (NIPAs) released in May 1997;
the estimates for 1995-97 also incorporate the results of the annual
NIPA revisions released in July 1998.
The estimate of output for 1998 was derived by BLS by extrapolating the
1997 estimate forward, using the annual growth rate of the Federal
Reserve Board's Industrial Production Index for Total Manufacturing.
The U.S. output series used for international comparisons differs from
the manufacturing series that BLS publishes in its news releases on
quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs. (See technical
notes.) While both series are based on annually-changing price weights,
the quarterly U.S. manufacturing series is on a "sectoral" output basis
rather than on a value added basis. Sectoral output is gross output
less intra-sector transactions. (See William Gullickson, "Measurement of
productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing," Monthly Labor Review, July
1995, pp. 13-28.)
New measures of National Accounts
Member states of the European Union are implementing the European System
of Integrated National Accounts (ESA 95). Some other countries are
adopting the System of National Accounts recommended by the United
Nations (SNA 93), the system on which ESA 95 is based. Revisions due to
these conversions to new systems are incorporated in this news release.
Productivity, output, and labor input
All the 11 countries for which output per hour was estimated
showed an increase in productivity during 1998. However, the rate of
increase was less than in 1997 for most countries. The exceptions were
Norway, which reversed a slight productivity decline during 1997, and
the United Kingdom, which showed a slightly higher rate of productivity
growth. The U.S. productivity increase in 1998 was the same as in 1997.
The slowdown in the rate of labor productivity increase was especially
marked for Belgium (from 6.1 percent in 1997 to 0.5 percent in 1998) and
for Sweden (from 6.5 percent in 1997 to 2.2 percent in 1998). The rate
of annual productivity growth also declined by over 3 percentage points
between 1997 and 1998 in Japan, France, and the Netherlands. (See table
B.)
The recent economic troubles in Asia are reflected in the 1998
results for manufacturing output in Japan (down 5.5 percent) and Korea
(down 7.2 percent). For Korean manufacturing, this was the first
recorded decline in output since 1980. Taiwan reported an increase in
manufacturing output of 3.9 percent, which, however, was below the
average annual growth rate since 1979.
The 4.1 percent increase in United States labor productivity in
1998 was due to an increase of 4.2 percent in manufacturing output which
was offset by a 0.1 percent increase in hours worked. Similarly, the
1998 increases in labor productivity in France, Germany, the
Netherlands, and Norway could largely be explained by increases in
manufacturing output, as total hours worked in those countries increased
by less than 1 percent. In Canada, Belgium, and Italy, hours worked
increased at approximately the same rate as output, resulting in only
slight productivity increases. Japan also recorded a slight
productivity increase in 1998 (0.3 percent), due to a 5.5 percent
decline in output accompanied by a 5.8 percent reduction in hours
worked. (See table A.)
Nine of the 11 countries for which estimates are available showed
increases in aggregate manufacturing hours worked in 1998, which is
contrary to a generally declining trend in hours over the last several
years. For the 1990-1998 period, total hours worked in manufacturing
declined in 8 of the 11 countries, the exceptions being the U.S.,
Canada, and Norway. (See table B.)
In a majority of the countries, the average hours worked per
person changed little during 1998; most of the increases and decreases
were less than 0.5 percent, similar to the recent 1990-1998 period.
(See table B.) In 1998, Japan, however, had a decline in average hours
worked of 1.7 percent, as a 4.2 percent drop in manufacturing employment
combined with a 5.8 percent decrease in total hours worked.
Manufacturing employment also declined in Germany during 1998, but by
only 0.2 percent, while hours worked grew by 0.8 percent. The result
was an increase in average hours worked of 1.1 percent. The decline of
0.4 percent in U.S. average hours was the result of a 0.5 percent
increase in employment and a 0.1 increase in total hours worked. (See
table A.)
Hourly compensation and unit labor costs
In nominal terms, hourly compensation in U.S. manufacturing
increased 4.3 percent in 1998, following a 4.0 percent rise in 1997.
This was above the average annual U.S. increase since 1985, but below
the 1979-98 annual average rise. (See table B.) Only Norway (6.1
percent) and the U.K. (5.7 percent) reported larger increases in hourly
compensation during 1998, expressed in their national currencies.
Japan, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands had increases of less than
1 percent. Italy showed an actual 1998 decline in hourly compensation
of 0.9 percent, due to 1.7 percent more hours worked accompanied by only
a 0.8 percent increase in aggregate labor compensation.
Unit labor costs in U.S. manufacturing grew by 0.2 percent in
1998, as the 4.1 percent increase in labor productivity did not quite
offset the 4.3 percent increase in hourly compensation. (See table A.)
This increase in unit labor costs is equal to the U.S. yearly average
change during the 1990-98 period and followed a 0.1 decline in 1997.
(See table B.)
Overall, expressed in national currency units, 1998 unit labor
costs were up in half of the 14 countries being compared and declined in
the other half. The biggest declines in unit labor costs occurred in
Korea (down 7.7 percent) and in Germany (down 3.3 percent). These two
countries had registered even larger unit labor cost declines in 1997.
The biggest increases in unit labor costs in 1998, expressed in
national currency units, occurred in the U.K. (4.7 percent), Norway (3.9
percent), and Canada (3.2 percent), all three the result of significant
jumps in hourly compensation, matched by only moderate growth in labor
productivity. (See table A.) The U.K. and Norway also are the
countries which had the greatest unit labor cost increases in 1997.
(See table B.)
Unit labor costs in U.S. dollars
For the second successive year, the exchange rates of all the
currencies except the U.K. pound declined against the U.S. dollar during
1998. The biggest drops took place in East Asia: Japanese yen (down 7.6
percent), Taiwanese dollar (down 14.2 percent), and Korean won (down
32.1 percent). Some other currencies also showed significant declines:
Canadian dollar (down 6.7 percent), Norwegian krone (down 6.2 percent),
and Swedish krona (down 3.9 percent). Currencies of other European
countries also declined against the dollar, but more modestly, between
1.0 and 1.9 percent. This was a significant change from 1997, when most
of these same currencies experienced double-digit declines against the
dollar. (See table B.)
The result of these exchange rate movements is that, as in 1997,
1998 unit labor costs expressed in U.S. dollars declined in all the
countries except the U.S. and the U.K. (See chart 2 and table B.) The
steepest declines in U.S. dollar-denominated unit labor costs occurred
in countries where declines in national currency-denominated unit labor
costs were deepened by a steep depreciation of the exchange rate (Korea
and Taiwan). In a number of cases, the exchange rate depreciation was
sufficiently significant to overcome an increase in national-currency
unit labor costs and result in a large drop in unit labor costs
expressed in U.S. dollars (Japan, Canada, Norway, and Sweden). (See
table A.)
Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-98
Average annual rates of change
Country 1979-98 1979-85 1985-90 1990-98 1995 1996 1997 1998
or area
Output per hour
United States 3.0 3.3 2.2 3.3 6.1 2.1 4.1 4.1
Canada 1.9 2.3 1.2 2.0 2.5 -1.4 3.4 0.7
Japan 3.5 3.5 4.3 3.0 7.4 5.9 3.8 0.3
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium 3.7 6.0 2.2 3.0 4.5 1.3 6.1 0.5
Denmark NA 2.1 0.5 NA NA NA NA NA
France 3.5 3.0 3.4 3.9 5.5 0.5 7.2 3.4
Germany2 2.6 2.1 2.1 3.2 3.0 3.5 5.9 4.3
Italy 3.3 4.9 2.5 2.6 3.5 0.9 2.8 0.2
Netherlands 3.5 4.5 2.0 3.8 5.0 3.8 5.0 1.6
Norway 1.5 2.4 1.4 0.9 0.5 0.1 -0.1 2.1
Sweden 3.4 3.0 1.8 4.6 5.4 2.5 6.5 2.2
United Kingdom 3.3 4.1 4.1 2.2 -2.0 -1.4 0.5 1.0
United States 2.7 2.0 2.2 3.4 6.6 1.7 5.9 4.2
Canada 2.1 1.4 1.8 2.8 5.0 1.2 6.5 3.9
Japan 3.1 4.7 4.8 1.0 5.5 6.1 3.0 -5.5
Korea 8.7 8.8 13.2 5.9 11.3 6.8 6.6 -7.2
Taiwan 6.4 8.1 7.0 4.9 6.0 4.5 6.6 3.9
Belgium 2.0 2.6 2.5 1.3 2.7 0.0 4.6 2.6
Denmark 2.0 2.9 -0.2 2.7 5.3 3.4 2.3 4.6
France 1.3 -0.4 2.6 1.8 4.6 -0.3 5.5 3.9
Germany2 0.8 0.2 2.3 0.2 0.2 -1.3 3.6 5.2
Italy 2.2 1.7 3.9 1.5 4.9 -0.5 3.5 1.9
Netherlands 2.3 1.8 3.1 2.2 3.5 2.6 5.0 2.4
Norway 0.6 0.6 -1.6 1.9 2.1 1.1 2.8 2.8
Sweden 2.5 2.2 1.2 3.6 12.5 2.2 5.5 4.4
United Kingdom 0.7 -1.2 3.4 0.5 1.5 0.4 1.0 0.3
Total hours
United States -0.3 -1.2 0.0 0.1 0.4 -0.4 1.8 0.1
Canada 0.2 -0.8 0.6 0.8 2.4 2.7 3.0 3.2
Japan -0.3 1.1 0.5 -2.0 -1.8 0.2 -0.8 -5.8
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium -1.6 -3.2 0.4 -1.7 -1.7 -1.3 -1.4 2.0
Denmark NA 0.8 -0.6 NA NA NA NA NA
France -2.1 -3.2 -0.8 -2.0 -0.9 -0.7 -1.6 0.5
Germany2 -1.8 -1.9 0.2 -2.9 -2.7 -4.7 -2.2 0.8
Italy -1.1 -3.1 1.3 -1.0 1.3 -1.4 0.7 1.7
Netherlands -1.2 -2.6 1.1 -1.6 -1.4 -1.2 0.0 0.7
Norway -0.9 -1.8 -2.9 1.0 1.5 1.0 3.0 0.7
Sweden -0.8 -0.8 -0.5 -1.0 6.7 -0.3 -1.0 2.2
United Kingdom -2.5 -5.1 -0.6 -1.6 3.5 1.8 0.5 -0.7
Employment
United States -0.6 -1.4 -0.1 -0.2 1.1 -0.3 1.0 0.5
Canada 0.1 -0.8 0.4 0.5 2.9 1.4 2.8 3.7
Japan 0.2 1.2 0.8 -0.9 -2.5 -0.6 -0.1 -4.2
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium -1.5 -2.6 -0.3 -1.5 -0.6 -1.7 -1.5 1.8
Denmark 0.1 1.0 -0.2 -0.5 2.0 -1.2 1.6 2.3
France -1.7 -2.2 -0.9 -1.9 -0.3 -1.0 -1.3 0.2
Germany2 -1.1 -1.1 1.1 -2.4 -2.2 -3.1 -2.3 -0.2
Italy -1.2 -2.9 0.3 -0.9 1.2 -0.6 0.3 1.9
Netherlands -1.0 -2.3 1.2 -1.5 -1.7 -1.1 0.4 0.8
Norway -0.9 -1.8 -2.7 0.9 2.4 1.6 3.4 0.6
Sweden -1.4 -1.2 -0.8 -2.1 4.8 -0.7 -1.1 2.3
United Kingdom -2.4 -4.8 -0.8 -1.6 2.5 1.8 0.5 -0.4
Average hours
United States 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.3 -0.7 -0.1 0.7 -0.4
Canada 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.3 -0.5 1.3 0.2 -0.6
Japan -0.5 0.0 -0.3 -1.0 0.7 0.8 -0.6 -1.7
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium -0.1 -0.6 0.7 -0.1 -1.1 0.4 0.1 0.2
Denmark NA -0.3 -0.5 NA NA NA NA NA
France -0.4 -1.1 0.1 -0.1 -0.6 0.3 -0.3 0.3
Germany2 -0.7 -0.8 -0.9 -0.5 -0.5 -1.6 0.2 1.1
Italy 0.2 -0.1 1.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.8 0.4 -0.2
Netherlands -0.2 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.3 -0.1 -0.4 -0.1
Norway -0.1 0.0 -0.2 0.0 -0.9 -0.6 -0.4 0.0
Sweden 0.6 0.4 0.3 1.1 1.8 0.4 0.1 -0.1
United Kingdom 0.0 -0.3 0.2 0.0 1.0 0.1 0.0 -0.3
Hourly compensation: National currency basis
United States 4.7 7.1 3.9 3.5 2.4 2.2 4.0 4.3
Canada 5.1 8.4 5.1 2.7 3.2 -0.7 3.7 3.9
Japan 3.9 4.7 4.6 3.0 2.6 1.4 2.9 0.7
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium 4.8 8.1 3.7 3.2 2.9 2.6 2.8 0.6
Denmark NA 8.1 5.3 NA NA NA NA NA
France 6.3 12.8 4.5 2.9 2.5 1.6 2.7 1.4
Germany2 5.1 6.0 5.0 4.5 5.3 5.1 2.3 0.8
Italy 9.1 16.7 6.8 5.0 4.6 7.2 4.2 -0.9
Netherlands 3.5 5.0 2.1 3.3 2.2 3.0 3.2 0.2
Norway 6.9 10.0 7.8 4.0 4.6 4.1 4.8 6.1
Sweden 7.0 9.6 8.5 4.2 5.0 6.8 4.3 2.7
United Kingdom 8.0 11.6 8.8 5.0 0.8 0.7 4.3 5.7
Unit labor costs: National currency basis
United States 1.7 3.7 1.6 0.2 -3.5 0.1 -0.1 0.2
Canada 3.1 5.9 3.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.4 3.2
Japan 0.5 1.2 0.3 0.0 -4.5 -4.3 -0.9 0.4
Korea 5.6 9.2 6.0 2.8 11.3 5.1 -8.3 -7.7
Taiwan 3.5 7.3 3.5 0.6 0.1 -0.2 -1.5 -1.1
Belgium 1.1 2.0 1.5 0.2 -1.5 1.3 -3.1 0.1
Denmark 3.2 5.9 4.8 0.2 0.5 -1.1 3.2 -0.4
France 2.8 9.5 1.0 -1.0 -2.8 1.1 -4.2 -1.9
Germany2 2.5 3.8 2.8 1.3 2.2 1.6 -3.4 -3.3
Italy 5.6 11.2 4.2 2.3 1.1 6.2 1.3 -1.1
Netherlands 0.0 0.4 0.1 -0.5 -2.6 -0.8 -1.8 -1.4
Norway 5.3 7.4 6.4 3.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 3.9
Sweden 3.5 6.4 6.6 -0.4 -0.3 4.2 -2.1 0.6
United Kingdom 4.6 7.2 4.5 2.8 2.8 2.2 3.8 4.7
Unit labor costs: U.S. dollar basis
United States 1.7 3.7 1.6 0.2 -3.5 0.1 -0.1 0.2
Canada 1.9 3.3 7.1 -2.3 0.2 1.3 -1.2 -3.7
Japan 3.2 -0.3 10.8 1.3 3.8 -17.3 -11.0 -7.2
Korea -0.1 -0.8 10.2 -5.6 16.2 0.8 -22.3 -37.4
Taiwan 3.8 5.5 12.0 -2.1 -0.1 -3.7 -6.0 -15.2
Belgium 0.0 -9.3 13.8 -0.8 11.7 -3.6 -16.2 -1.3
Denmark 1.9 -5.8 16.7 -0.8 14.0 -4.6 -9.5 -1.8
France 1.0 -3.3 11.6 -2.0 8.1 -1.4 -16.0 -2.9
Germany2 2.7 -4.1 15.9 0.3 15.7 -3.3 -16.2 -4.7
Italy 1.6 -3.2 14.4 -2.3 0.0 12.2 -8.2 -3.0
Netherlands 0.0 -7.6 12.9 -1.5 10.4 -5.7 -15.1 -2.9
Norway 3.1 -1.7 13.3 0.6 15.8 2.0 -4.3 -2.5
Sweden 0.2 -5.2 14.8 -4.0 7.7 10.9 -14.1 -3.3
United Kingdom 3.2 -1.3 11.4 1.8 6.0 1.0 8.9 5.9
Exchange rates4
United States 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Canada -1.2 -2.5 3.2 -3.0 -0.4 0.6 -1.5 -6.7
Japan 2.7 -1.5 10.5 1.3 8.7 -13.6 -10.1 -7.6
Korea -5.4 -9.2 3.9 -8.1 4.4 -4.0 -15.3 -32.1
Taiwan 0.4 -1.7 8.2 -2.7 -0.1 -3.5 -4.5 -14.2
Belgium -1.1 -11.1 12.2 -1.0 13.4 -4.8 -13.5 -1.4
Denmark -1.3 -11.0 11.4 -1.0 13.5 -3.5 -12.2 -1.4
France -1.7 -11.7 10.5 -1.0 11.2 -2.5 -12.4 -1.0
Germany2 0.2 -7.6 12.7 -1.1 13.2 -4.8 -13.3 -1.4
Italy -3.8 -12.9 9.8 -4.5 -1.1 5.6 -9.5 -1.9
Netherlands 0.1 -8.0 12.7 -1.1 13.4 -4.9 -13.6 -1.6
Norway -2.1 -8.4 6.6 -2.3 11.4 -1.9 -8.8 -6.2
Sweden -3.2 -11.0 7.8 -3.6 8.1 6.4 -12.2 -3.9
United Kingdom -1.3 -7.9 6.6 -0.9 3.0 -1.1 4.9 1.2
1Rates of change based on the compound 3Adjusted to include employment taxes
rate method. that are not compensation to employees
but are labor costs to employers.
2Data relate to the former West Germany.
4Value of foreign currency relative to
NA = Not available. the U.S. dollar.
Trade-weighted unit labor costs
Because the economies covered by the BLS comparative data differ greatly
in their relative importance to U.S. trade in manufactured goods, BLS
constructs indexes of U.S. unit labor cost trends relative to a trade-
weighted average of unit labor cost trends in the other economies. (See chart
3.)
The construction of the indexes shown in chart 3 is a three-step
process. First, the indexes of unit labor costs for all economies are
rebased to a common year (in this case 1979=100). Second, for each year, a
"competitors" index is calculated as the weighted geometric mean of the
indexes for all competitor economies. Finally, the U.S. index number for
each year is divided by the "competitors" index number (and multiplied by
100) to obtain a relative ratio of the United States to the competitors.
This process is used to calculate the relative trade-weighted unit labor cost
indexes on both a national currency and a U.S. dollar basis.
Chart 3 relates the growth of U.S. unit labor costs to the growth of
foreign competitors' costs. The solid line indicates that U.S. unit labor
costs rose faster than competitors' costs between 1979 and 1985 on a U.S.
dollar basis. In most years between 1985 and 1995, U.S. costs either rose at
a slower rate than the competitors' costs or fell at a faster rate. Since
1995, however, the strength of the U.S. dollar has once again caused relative
U.S. unit labor costs to rise.
The data underlying this chart are shown in table C.
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT:
Chart 3. U.S. manufacturing unit labor costs relative to 13
competitors, 1979-98
Table C. U.S. manufacturing unit labor costs relative to 13 competitors,
1979-98
Unit Labor Costs Unit Labor Costs
National Currency Basis U.S. Dollar Basis
Year Own Competitors' Own Competitors'
Index Index Ratio Index Index Ratio
1979 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1980 112.3 111.9 100.4 112.3 110.2 101.9
1981 117.6 120.9 97.3 117.6 109.6 107.3
1982 125.1 129.2 96.8 125.1 106.2 117.8
1983 122.8 131.2 93.6 122.8 104.8 117.2
1984 122.2 131.8 92.7 122.2 99.3 123.0
1985 124.2 133.1 93.3 124.2 97.2 127.7
1986 128.9 138.5 93.1 128.9 121.7 105.9
1987 124.1 140.5 88.3 124.1 139.7 88.8
1988 124.3 141.8 87.7 124.3 152.1 81.7
1989 129.4 145.5 88.9 129.4 151.8 85.3
1990 134.6 151.5 88.9 134.6 163.4 82.4
1991 141.0 158.1 89.2 141.0 173.1 81.5
1992 144.7 162.6 89.0 144.7 181.5 79.7
1993 145.9 165.2 88.3 145.9 179.8 81.1
1994 141.3 163.3 86.6 141.3 180.5 78.3
1995 136.4 162.8 83.8 136.4 190.1 71.7
1996 136.5 162.7 83.9 136.5 180.4 75.6
1997 136.4 161.0 84.7 136.4 165.0 82.7
1998 136.7 161.3 84.7 136.7 153.8 88.9
Table 1. Output per hour in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 28.0 NA NA NA NA 22.6 13.2 13.2 11.2 12.1 24.5 19.7 25.5
1955 NA 34.4 8.7 NA NA NA 24.6 16.7 19.7 15.7 15.2 28.5 21.6 27.5
1960 NA 40.7 14.0 NA NA 18.0 29.9 21.8 29.2 19.6 19.3 36.7 27.6 31.2
1961 NA 42.9 15.8 NA NA 18.2 31.6 23.2 30.6 21.2 20.3 38.0 29.0 31.2
1962 NA 46.3 16.6 NA NA 19.2 33.2 24.7 32.8 23.5 20.9 38.0 31.3 31.9
1963 NA 48.2 18.0 NA NA 19.9 34.3 26.0 34.1 24.1 21.7 40.0 33.1 33.6
1964 NA 50.4 20.4 NA NA 21.2 37.1 28.1 37.1 24.4 23.6 42.2 36.0 35.8
1965 NA 52.9 21.2 NA NA 22.3 38.9 30.0 39.3 27.1 25.1 44.7 38.7 36.9
1966 NA 53.8 23.3 NA NA 23.8 40.8 32.5 40.9 29.5 26.6 46.6 40.3 38.1
1967 NA 54.3 26.3 NA NA 25.1 43.8 34.6 43.4 31.0 28.5 48.3 43.7 39.9
1968 NA 57.6 29.5 NA NA 27.3 47.8 38.1 47.0 33.4 31.9 51.3 47.8 42.7
1969 NA 60.6 33.8 NA NA 29.9 49.8 40.6 50.4 34.6 34.9 56.1 51.5 43.8
1970 NA 59.2 38.0 NA NA 32.9 52.7 43.1 52.0 36.8 38.1 57.8 52.8 44.7
1971 NA 62.7 40.2 NA NA 35.1 56.3 45.6 54.0 37.4 40.4 60.1 55.1 46.9
1972 NA 65.7 44.1 NA NA 39.2 60.8 47.7 57.4 40.6 43.6 63.6 57.9 49.5
1973 NA 69.6 48.1 NA NA 43.5 66.9 51.0 61.1 44.0 48.3 67.6 62.1 53.1
1974 NA 70.8 49.3 NA NA 45.8 69.1 52.2 63.2 46.8 51.8 70.6 64.8 53.9
1975 NA 68.2 50.7 NA NA 47.6 76.1 54.0 65.9 45.2 51.1 69.7 65.8 52.8
1976 NA 73.1 53.8 NA NA 52.4 78.8 57.3 70.6 51.5 56.6 71.9 66.8 55.1
1977 70.6 77.1 55.9 NA NA 55.0 80.4 60.7 72.7 52.5 61.1 71.5 65.8 55.6
1978 71.1 78.5 58.1 NA NA 58.3 81.6 63.4 75.2 55.9 65.3 72.8 67.6 56.4
1979 72.1 78.4 62.9 NA NA 61.4 85.6 66.3 78.4 61.3 68.4 78.1 72.9 56.8
1980 71.9 75.3 63.9 NA NA 65.4 90.3 66.7 77.2 64.1 69.2 76.7 74.0 56.2
1981 75.5 77.1 66.0 NA NA 70.1 91.8 68.6 78.7 65.6 70.8 76.5 73.5 59.1
1982 77.8 75.3 68.7 NA NA 73.5 92.1 73.4 78.8 66.8 72.2 79.7 76.7 62.3
1983 81.4 79.8 69.6 NA NA 81.0 96.6 75.0 82.6 70.4 78.1 82.4 81.8 67.2
1984 84.6 86.6 71.9 NA NA 85.0 96.1 76.1 85.4 77.3 85.8 87.4 85.6 70.8
1985 87.8 89.8 77.3 NA NA 87.0 96.7 79.1 89.1 81.6 89.3 90.2 87.1 72.3
1986 88.3 89.3 76.9 NA NA 87.8 91.1 80.4 89.6 82.7 90.9 89.0 88.5 74.9
1987 94.4 91.3 81.2 NA NA 88.9 90.6 81.8 88.1 85.1 91.7 93.3 90.1 79.5
1988 98.0 91.1 84.8 NA NA 92.0 94.1 87.4 91.5 86.7 93.8 92.1 90.8 82.4
1989 97.1 92.4 89.5 NA NA 96.9 99.6 91.9 94.6 89.4 97.1 94.6 93.8 86.2
1990 97.8 95.3 95.4 NA NA 96.8 99.1 93.5 99.0 92.5 98.6 96.6 95.0 88.4
1991 98.3 95.1 99.4 NA NA 99.1 99.6 96.9 101.9 95.2 99.6 97.5 95.0 92.2
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.1 102.5 100.5 NA NA 102.5 104.5 100.6 100.6 102.9 101.9 100.6 106.7 104.1
1994 108.3 106.2 101.8 NA NA 108.4 NA 108.5 107.9 105.6 114.2 101.4 116.1 106.8
1995 114.9 108.9 109.3 NA NA 113.2 NA 114.5 111.2 109.3 119.9 102.0 122.4 104.7
1996 117.3 107.3 115.8 NA NA 114.7 NA 115.0 115.1 110.3 124.4 102.0 125.4 103.3
1997 122.1 111.0 120.2 NA NA 121.7 NA 123.3 121.8 113.4 130.7 101.9 133.6 103.8
1998 127.0 111.7 120.5 NA NA 122.4 NA 127.5 127.1 113.6 132.8 104.1 136.5 104.8
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 30.0 NA NA NA NA 31.8 16.2 19.2 12.4 15.8 32.0 25.6 29.6
1955 NA 35.6 10.4 NA NA NA 34.0 20.3 28.8 17.7 19.8 37.3 27.9 32.4
1960 NA 41.8 17.3 NA NA 22.6 39.2 26.6 38.4 22.4 25.4 46.2 33.7 36.0
1961 NA 43.9 19.3 NA NA 22.9 40.2 28.3 39.6 24.0 25.7 47.2 35.1 35.5
1962 NA 47.7 19.8 NA NA 24.1 42.6 30.1 41.3 25.7 26.3 47.0 37.5 35.9
1963 NA 49.8 21.2 NA NA 25.0 43.3 31.8 42.4 26.5 27.1 49.2 39.3 37.8
1964 NA 52.3 24.0 NA NA 26.5 47.2 34.0 46.1 26.8 29.2 52.3 42.3 40.6
1965 NA 54.9 24.5 NA NA 27.4 49.5 36.1 48.7 28.9 31.0 54.1 45.1 41.2
1966 NA 55.4 27.0 NA NA 29.1 51.0 39.2 50.0 31.7 32.7 56.6 47.0 41.8
1967 NA 56.0 30.6 NA NA 30.3 54.1 41.2 51.7 33.8 34.9 58.1 50.1 43.5
1968 NA 59.3 34.2 NA NA 33.0 57.7 44.3 56.6 36.4 38.3 60.1 53.6 47.0
1969 NA 62.0 38.6 NA NA 35.7 59.3 48.2 60.7 37.5 41.3 64.3 56.8 48.1
1970 NA 60.3 43.0 NA NA 38.3 60.8 50.5 62.4 39.2 44.3 65.7 58.1 48.4
1971 NA 63.7 44.8 NA NA 40.2 64.6 53.0 63.4 38.7 46.5 67.6 60.5 49.5
1972 NA 66.7 48.9 NA NA 43.9 68.4 54.9 66.6 41.7 49.5 70.6 61.8 51.8
1973 NA 70.2 52.8 NA NA 47.6 71.2 57.8 70.4 45.7 53.8 74.6 65.2 56.3
1974 NA 70.9 52.0 NA NA 48.7 75.0 58.3 71.4 46.9 55.9 76.9 67.3 55.3
1975 NA 67.4 52.2 NA NA 48.0 79.9 58.6 72.5 44.6 54.1 75.6 67.0 54.0
1976 NA 72.4 57.0 NA NA 53.8 83.2 62.4 79.9 50.7 59.8 76.0 67.2 56.8
1977 69.2 76.3 59.4 NA NA 56.1 84.1 65.5 81.1 51.5 64.4 74.4 65.6 57.7
1978 69.8 78.1 62.0 NA NA 59.4 84.3 67.8 82.8 54.7 68.1 73.9 65.7 58.3
1979 70.3 77.8 67.5 NA NA 62.6 88.4 70.8 86.0 59.5 70.5 78.0 69.8 58.5
1980 69.3 74.0 68.6 NA NA 65.6 93.9 71.2 83.5 62.4 71.7 77.1 70.1 56.0
1981 72.7 75.8 70.3 NA NA 68.7 94.3 72.3 84.1 63.8 73.8 76.9 70.1 58.0
1982 73.6 73.6 73.0 NA NA 73.7 96.0 74.2 83.7 64.8 76.1 79.4 73.4 61.7
1983 79.1 79.1 74.0 NA NA 79.2 102.1 75.5 87.9 68.3 82.3 82.5 79.2 66.7
1984 83.5 85.8 77.3 NA NA 82.5 101.2 76.8 90.9 75.0 89.1 87.4 84.4 70.9
1985 86.6 89.2 82.8 NA NA 85.7 98.4 79.2 93.1 78.6 90.5 89.8 85.2 73.2
1986 87.1 88.9 81.9 NA NA 86.5 94.9 80.7 93.0 81.6 91.7 88.7 86.3 75.9
1987 93.5 91.5 86.7 NA NA 88.4 92.2 82.6 91.3 85.5 92.0 90.7 88.9 80.1
1988 98.0 93.0 91.7 NA NA 93.0 95.8 88.5 94.4 90.1 94.8 90.3 89.4 85.0
1989 97.2 93.5 95.6 NA NA 97.5 100.2 92.9 96.2 92.7 97.6 93.3 92.1 88.1
1990 97.2 95.7 100.5 NA NA 98.5 98.4 94.1 98.8 93.6 99.0 95.1 94.3 90.1
1991 97.0 94.9 102.5 NA NA 99.2 99.3 96.4 101.0 95.3 99.8 96.4 94.3 93.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 103.4 103.9 98.1 NA NA 100.9 103.6 100.5 97.6 100.9 101.9 100.9 109.5 103.9
1994 110.7 108.3 99.5 NA NA 109.7 114.0 108.5 104.7 106.4 114.2 102.0 122.7 108.2
1995 116.7 110.5 107.6 NA NA 113.3 117.7 113.9 107.3 110.2 120.2 101.6 131.7 107.1
1996 119.1 110.3 114.9 NA NA 115.3 123.2 114.7 109.3 110.3 124.7 101.1 135.5 105.7
1997 124.8 114.3 118.5 NA NA 122.5 124.1 122.5 116.0 113.8 130.4 100.6 144.5 106.2
1998 129.3 114.4 116.9 NA NA 123.4 126.8 127.0 122.3 113.8 132.4 102.7 147.5 107.0
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
- 19 -
Table 3. Output in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 22.6 2.2 NA NA NA 26.8 18.4 14.5 9.4 16.8 38.2 31.2 49.9
1955 NA 29.3 4.9 NA NA NA 29.4 22.9 27.5 14.5 23.0 46.7 36.1 58.6
1960 NA 34.2 10.7 NA NA 30.7 40.8 31.0 41.5 21.4 31.7 56.5 46.5 67.8
1961 NA 35.6 12.8 NA NA 32.1 43.0 33.3 44.0 23.6 32.8 58.8 49.6 67.9
1962 NA 39.7 13.9 NA NA 34.6 46.7 35.7 46.2 26.1 34.5 59.3 53.4 68.1
1963 NA 42.4 15.5 NA NA 36.2 47.3 38.4 47.1 27.8 35.9 62.9 56.0 70.4
1964 NA 46.5 18.0 NA NA 39.5 52.9 42.0 51.2 28.2 39.3 67.3 61.0 76.9
1965 NA 51.0 18.7 NA NA 40.8 56.3 44.1 55.0 29.6 42.1 70.9 65.3 79.1
1966 NA 54.4 21.2 NA NA 43.2 57.5 48.1 55.9 32.3 44.3 75.1 67.1 80.4
1967 NA 55.5 25.4 NA NA 43.7 58.1 50.4 54.7 35.5 46.1 77.5 69.3 81.0
1968 NA 59.1 29.3 NA NA 46.7 62.6 53.2 60.3 38.9 50.4 79.4 72.9 86.7
1969 NA 63.1 34.1 NA NA 52.2 66.0 59.6 67.4 41.4 55.3 85.2 78.6 90.0
1970 NA 60.5 38.8 6.3 13.2 57.6 68.0 64.1 70.9 44.7 59.5 89.1 81.7 90.4
1971 NA 64.3 40.7 7.5 16.2 60.1 69.4 68.1 71.6 45.3 61.5 92.3 82.2 89.4
1972 NA 69.7 44.4 8.6 19.5 64.7 75.3 71.3 73.8 47.8 63.2 96.7 82.7 91.3
1973 NA 76.8 50.0 11.1 22.9 70.6 79.5 76.7 78.5 54.0 67.7 102.2 88.5 99.7
1974 NA 78.7 48.7 13.0 21.7 73.4 80.7 78.2 77.7 57.4 70.2 107.3 93.3 98.4
1975 NA 73.0 46.2 14.3 22.6 67.9 78.7 76.6 74.1 54.1 65.6 105.0 93.6 91.7
1976 NA 78.9 50.2 18.1 27.7 73.0 82.5 81.1 79.8 62.2 69.6 105.2 93.6 93.4
1977 74.9 81.5 51.8 20.9 31.2 73.3 82.9 84.8 81.3 64.4 73.1 103.0 88.3 95.2
1978 78.7 86.1 53.3 25.5 37.7 74.3 82.7 86.8 82.8 67.5 75.4 100.6 85.9 95.7
1979 81.3 89.5 57.9 28.1 40.7 76.2 87.4 89.3 87.1 74.6 77.3 104.7 91.4 95.5
1980 77.3 85.4 59.9 27.7 44.7 78.2 91.3 88.7 85.3 78.4 77.4 103.6 91.8 87.2
1981 80.7 87.5 62.1 30.5 48.1 77.2 88.4 87.3 84.4 76.8 77.5 101.7 88.9 81.9
1982 76.2 77.7 64.1 32.6 49.1 80.4 89.8 88.2 81.5 75.7 76.7 101.3 89.8 81.8
1983 80.5 81.8 66.1 37.6 54.8 84.6 95.8 88.0 82.7 76.3 79.1 99.9 95.0 83.5
1984 89.1 92.7 70.4 42.3 62.7 87.2 100.3 87.0 85.2 79.8 83.6 104.7 101.7 86.6
1985 91.8 97.5 76.1 46.7 64.8 89.1 103.5 87.3 88.3 82.4 86.1 108.5 103.9 89.0
1986 91.0 98.6 74.9 55.7 74.6 89.1 103.5 87.3 89.7 84.5 88.3 108.1 105.2 90.2
1987 97.9 103.2 78.4 66.6 84.4 88.8 99.3 87.2 88.0 88.2 89.5 110.7 107.7 94.5
1988 104.5 109.3 84.6 75.8 87.9 93.3 100.8 92.2 90.9 94.5 92.8 105.3 110.2 101.5
1989 104.0 110.8 90.2 79.0 91.2 99.1 104.3 97.2 94.0 98.1 96.9 101.3 111.6 105.5
1990 102.5 106.6 96.3 86.7 90.8 101.0 102.7 99.1 99.1 99.6 100.1 100.2 110.6 105.4
1991 98.7 98.8 101.4 95.0 96.9 100.7 101.7 99.8 102.8 99.2 100.6 98.3 103.6 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 103.5 105.1 96.0 105.4 102.5 97.0 99.0 95.7 91.8 96.4 98.2 102.7 101.3 101.5
1994 112.2 113.2 95.4 116.8 108.4 101.4 109.3 100.3 93.5 102.2 104.2 106.7 115.7 106.2
1995 119.6 118.8 100.6 129.9 114.9 104.2 115.1 104.9 93.7 107.2 107.8 109.0 130.1 107.8
1996 121.6 120.2 106.7 138.7 120.0 104.2 119.0 104.6 92.5 106.7 110.6 110.1 132.9 108.3
1997 128.8 128.0 110.0 147.8 128.0 109.0 121.7 110.3 95.8 110.4 116.1 113.3 140.3 109.3
1998 134.2 133.0 103.9 137.2 133.0 111.8 127.3 114.6 100.7 112.5 118.8 116.4 146.4 109.7
NA: Not Available
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 4. Total hours in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 85.5 80.7 NA NA NA NA 118.7 139.6 109.8 83.8 138.5 156.0 158.5 195.7
1955 94.6 85.1 55.9 NA NA NA 119.8 137.7 139.6 92.8 151.5 164.1 167.3 213.1
1960 92.1 84.1 76.3 NA NA 170.7 136.5 142.1 142.3 109.0 164.7 154.0 168.3 217.4
1961 89.7 83.0 80.8 NA NA 175.9 136.2 143.5 143.9 111.2 161.8 154.8 171.0 217.5
1962 93.4 85.8 83.4 NA NA 180.3 140.7 144.5 140.8 111.1 164.8 156.2 170.8 213.2
1963 94.4 87.9 86.1 NA NA 181.8 138.0 147.6 138.1 115.3 165.9 157.3 169.1 209.6
1964 96.4 92.2 88.2 NA NA 186.5 142.6 149.4 138.0 115.6 166.9 159.5 169.6 214.6
1965 102.0 96.4 88.0 NA NA 183.2 144.9 146.6 140.0 109.1 167.9 158.4 168.8 214.3
1966 108.6 101.1 91.0 NA NA 181.5 140.8 148.0 136.7 109.7 166.4 161.1 166.5 211.2
1967 108.0 102.1 96.3 NA NA 173.6 132.7 145.9 125.9 114.8 161.5 160.4 158.4 203.1
1968 109.6 102.5 99.4 NA NA 170.9 130.9 139.5 128.3 116.4 158.3 154.9 152.6 202.8
1969 110.9 104.2 100.9 NA NA 174.9 132.7 146.8 133.8 119.5 158.7 152.0 152.5 205.6
1970 104.4 102.1 102.3 NA NA 174.7 129.0 148.7 136.3 121.2 156.4 154.3 154.7 202.1
1971 100.5 102.5 101.1 NA NA 171.4 123.3 149.4 132.5 121.0 152.5 153.6 149.1 190.6
1972 105.1 106.1 100.6 NA NA 165.2 123.8 149.6 128.7 117.9 145.0 152.1 142.9 184.3
1973 110.4 110.3 104.0 NA NA 162.1 118.8 150.3 128.4 122.7 140.3 151.2 142.5 187.9
1974 107.9 111.1 98.7 NA NA 160.4 116.7 149.9 122.9 122.8 135.6 152.0 144.0 182.4
1975 97.2 107.0 91.1 NA NA 142.6 103.5 142.0 112.5 119.6 128.5 150.5 142.3 173.6
1976 101.9 108.0 93.3 NA NA 139.4 104.7 141.6 113.1 120.9 123.1 146.2 140.2 169.5
1977 106.1 105.7 92.5 NA NA 133.3 103.1 139.8 111.8 122.6 119.5 144.1 134.2 171.2
1978 110.6 109.7 91.6 NA NA 127.4 101.4 137.0 110.1 120.7 115.5 138.3 127.1 169.8
1979 112.7 114.2 92.0 NA NA 124.2 102.1 134.6 111.0 121.7 112.9 134.1 125.5 168.1
1980 107.5 113.5 93.8 NA NA 119.7 101.1 133.1 110.5 122.4 111.9 135.0 124.0 155.3
1981 107.0 113.4 94.1 NA NA 110.2 96.3 127.2 107.1 117.2 109.5 133.0 121.0 138.7
1982 97.9 103.2 93.3 NA NA 109.4 97.5 120.2 103.4 113.3 106.1 127.1 117.2 131.3
1983 98.9 102.4 95.0 NA NA 104.3 99.2 117.4 100.1 108.5 101.3 121.2 116.1 124.3
1984 105.3 107.0 97.9 NA NA 102.6 104.4 114.2 99.7 103.2 97.5 119.7 118.9 122.4
1985 104.6 108.6 98.4 NA NA 102.4 107.0 110.5 99.1 100.9 96.3 120.2 119.4 123.1
1986 103.0 110.5 97.3 NA NA 101.5 113.7 108.7 100.1 102.1 97.1 121.6 118.9 120.5
1987 103.8 113.0 96.6 NA NA 100.0 109.6 106.6 99.9 103.6 97.6 118.6 119.5 118.9
1988 106.6 120.0 99.8 NA NA 101.5 107.2 105.5 99.3 108.9 98.9 114.3 121.4 123.2
1989 107.1 119.9 100.8 NA NA 102.3 104.7 105.8 99.3 109.7 99.7 107.1 119.0 122.3
1990 104.8 111.9 100.9 NA NA 104.3 103.7 105.9 100.1 107.7 101.6 103.7 116.4 119.2
1991 100.4 103.8 102.0 NA NA 101.5 102.1 103.0 100.9 104.2 101.0 100.8 109.0 108.5
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 101.4 102.6 95.6 NA NA 94.7 94.8 95.1 91.3 93.6 96.4 102.1 94.9 97.5
1994 103.6 106.6 93.7 NA NA 93.6 NA 92.4 86.7 96.7 91.3 105.2 99.6 99.4
1995 104.0 109.1 92.0 NA NA 92.0 NA 91.6 84.3 98.0 90.0 106.9 106.3 103.0
1996 103.7 112.0 92.2 NA NA 90.8 NA 91.0 80.4 96.7 88.9 107.9 106.0 104.8
1997 105.5 115.4 91.5 NA NA 89.5 NA 89.5 78.6 97.4 88.8 111.1 105.0 105.4
1998 105.6 119.0 86.2 NA NA 91.3 NA 89.9 79.3 99.0 89.5 111.9 107.3 104.7
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 5. Employment in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 84.3 75.1 NA NA NA NA 84.4 113.4 75.2 76.0 106.3 119.3 122.0 168.4
1955 93.1 82.3 47.1 NA NA NA 86.7 113.0 95.5 82.1 116.0 125.2 129.7 181.1
1960 92.6 81.9 61.7 NA NA 135.7 104.1 116.6 108.1 95.4 124.9 122.2 137.8 188.5
1961 90.0 81.2 66.4 NA NA 140.1 107.0 117.4 111.3 98.4 127.9 124.8 141.3 191.1
1962 92.8 83.3 70.0 NA NA 143.3 109.7 118.5 111.8 101.5 131.2 126.3 142.2 189.4
1963 93.5 85.1 72.8 NA NA 144.7 109.3 121.1 111.0 104.8 132.5 127.8 142.4 186.4
1964 94.9 88.9 75.0 NA NA 148.8 112.0 123.3 111.0 105.1 134.6 128.8 144.3 189.2
1965 99.3 93.0 76.1 NA NA 148.7 113.9 122.2 113.0 102.6 135.8 130.9 144.8 191.7
1966 105.4 98.2 78.3 NA NA 148.5 112.8 122.8 111.8 102.0 135.4 132.8 143.0 192.2
1967 106.7 99.1 82.8 NA NA 143.9 107.5 122.3 105.8 105.3 132.0 133.5 138.3 186.3
1968 108.5 99.7 85.7 NA NA 141.5 108.5 120.3 106.6 106.7 131.7 132.0 136.0 184.5
1969 110.6 101.7 88.2 NA NA 146.3 111.4 123.7 111.0 110.4 133.9 132.6 138.4 187.1
1970 106.3 100.3 90.3 NA NA 150.2 111.9 126.9 113.6 114.0 134.4 135.6 140.6 186.7
1971 102.2 101.1 90.7 NA NA 149.6 107.3 128.5 112.9 117.0 132.3 136.4 135.9 180.4
1972 105.0 104.5 90.8 NA NA 147.4 110.1 129.9 110.8 114.8 127.6 136.9 133.8 176.1
1973 110.5 109.4 94.6 NA NA 148.4 111.6 132.6 111.5 118.1 125.9 136.9 135.8 177.2
1974 110.1 111.0 93.7 NA NA 150.7 107.6 134.0 108.9 122.4 125.6 139.5 138.7 177.8
1975 100.6 108.3 88.5 NA NA 141.5 98.5 130.7 102.2 121.4 121.3 138.7 139.8 169.7
1976 104.2 109.1 88.0 NA NA 135.8 99.2 130.0 99.9 122.7 116.4 138.4 139.4 164.3
1977 108.2 106.9 87.1 NA NA 130.5 98.5 129.5 100.3 125.0 113.5 138.5 134.5 164.8
1978 112.7 110.2 85.9 NA NA 125.0 98.0 128.0 100.0 123.5 110.8 136.1 130.7 164.2
1979 115.6 115.1 85.7 NA NA 121.8 98.8 126.1 101.2 125.4 109.5 134.2 131.0 163.2
1980 111.6 115.5 87.4 NA NA 119.3 97.2 124.6 102.2 125.8 108.0 134.5 130.9 155.9
1981 111.0 115.4 88.3 NA NA 112.4 93.8 120.7 100.3 120.4 105.0 132.3 127.0 141.2
1982 103.5 105.7 87.9 NA NA 109.2 93.6 118.9 97.4 116.7 100.8 127.5 122.4 132.5
1983 101.8 103.4 89.3 NA NA 106.8 93.9 116.6 94.1 111.8 96.1 121.0 119.9 125.1
1984 106.8 108.0 91.1 NA NA 105.7 99.1 113.3 93.7 106.4 93.8 119.8 120.5 122.2
1985 106.0 109.4 91.9 NA NA 104.0 105.2 110.2 94.9 104.8 95.1 120.7 122.0 121.7
1986 104.5 110.8 91.4 NA NA 103.0 109.1 108.3 96.4 103.5 96.3 122.0 121.9 118.9
1987 104.7 112.7 90.4 NA NA 100.5 107.7 105.6 96.4 103.1 97.3 122.0 121.1 117.9
1988 106.6 117.6 92.4 NA NA 100.4 105.3 104.1 96.3 104.8 97.9 116.6 123.3 119.3
1989 107.0 118.6 94.3 NA NA 101.7 104.1 104.7 97.6 105.8 99.2 108.7 121.2 119.7
1990 105.4 111.4 95.8 NA NA 102.5 104.3 105.4 100.3 106.4 101.1 105.4 117.2 116.9
1991 101.8 104.0 98.9 NA NA 101.5 102.4 103.6 101.8 104.1 100.8 101.9 109.9 107.5
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.1 101.2 97.9 NA NA 96.1 95.5 95.2 94.0 95.5 96.4 101.8 92.6 97.7
1994 101.3 104.5 95.9 NA NA 92.5 95.8 92.4 89.3 96.0 91.3 104.7 94.2 98.2
1995 102.5 107.5 93.5 NA NA 91.9 97.8 92.1 87.3 97.2 89.7 107.2 98.8 100.7
1996 102.2 109.0 92.9 NA NA 90.3 96.6 91.2 84.6 96.7 88.7 108.9 98.1 102.5
1997 103.2 112.0 92.8 NA NA 89.0 98.1 90.0 82.6 96.9 89.0 112.6 97.1 102.9
1998 103.8 116.2 88.9 NA NA 90.6 100.3 90.2 82.4 98.8 89.8 113.3 99.3 102.6
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 6. Average annual hours in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 101.4 107.4 NA NA NA NA 140.7 123.0 146.0 110.2 130.3 130.8 129.9 116.2
1955 101.5 103.4 118.7 NA NA NA 138.2 121.8 146.1 113.0 130.6 131.1 129.0 117.7
1960 99.5 102.7 123.5 NA NA 125.8 131.2 121.8 131.7 114.3 131.9 126.0 122.1 115.3
1961 99.6 102.2 121.6 NA NA 125.5 127.3 122.2 129.4 113.1 126.5 124.1 121.1 113.8
1962 100.6 103.0 119.2 NA NA 125.8 128.3 121.9 126.0 109.5 125.6 123.7 120.1 112.6
1963 100.9 103.3 118.2 NA NA 125.7 126.3 121.9 124.4 110.0 125.2 123.1 118.8 112.5
1964 101.6 103.7 117.6 NA NA 125.3 127.4 121.1 124.3 110.0 124.0 123.9 117.5 113.4
1965 102.7 103.7 115.6 NA NA 123.2 127.2 120.0 123.9 106.4 123.6 121.0 116.6 111.8
1966 103.0 103.0 116.2 NA NA 122.2 124.8 120.5 122.3 107.6 122.9 121.3 116.4 109.9
1967 101.2 103.1 116.3 NA NA 120.7 123.4 119.3 119.0 109.1 122.4 120.2 114.5 109.0
1968 101.0 102.8 116.0 NA NA 120.7 120.6 116.0 120.4 109.1 120.2 117.3 112.2 109.9
1969 100.2 102.5 114.4 NA NA 119.5 119.1 118.7 120.6 108.3 118.5 114.6 110.2 109.9
1970 98.2 101.8 113.3 NA NA 116.3 115.3 117.2 119.9 106.4 116.4 113.8 110.0 108.2
1971 98.4 101.5 111.4 NA NA 114.6 114.9 116.3 117.3 103.4 115.3 112.6 109.7 105.7
1972 100.0 101.5 110.8 NA NA 112.0 112.4 115.1 116.2 102.7 113.6 111.0 106.8 104.7
1973 99.9 100.8 109.9 NA NA 109.3 106.4 113.3 115.2 103.9 111.4 110.4 104.9 106.0
1974 98.0 100.1 105.3 NA NA 106.4 108.5 111.9 112.9 100.3 108.0 108.9 103.8 102.6
1975 96.6 98.9 103.0 NA NA 100.7 105.1 108.6 110.1 98.5 106.0 108.5 101.8 102.3
1976 97.7 99.0 106.0 NA NA 102.6 105.6 108.9 113.2 98.5 105.8 105.7 100.6 103.2
1977 98.1 98.9 106.2 NA NA 102.1 104.6 107.9 111.5 98.0 105.3 104.0 99.8 103.9
1978 98.1 99.6 106.7 NA NA 101.9 103.4 107.0 110.1 97.8 104.3 101.6 97.2 103.4
1979 97.5 99.2 107.3 NA NA 102.0 103.3 106.7 109.7 97.1 103.1 99.9 95.8 103.0
1980 96.3 98.3 107.3 NA NA 100.4 104.0 106.8 108.1 97.3 103.7 100.4 94.8 99.6
1981 96.4 98.3 106.5 NA NA 98.1 102.7 105.4 106.8 97.3 104.2 100.6 95.3 98.2
1982 94.6 97.6 106.2 NA NA 100.2 104.2 101.1 106.2 97.1 105.3 99.7 95.7 99.1
1983 97.2 99.1 106.4 NA NA 97.7 105.6 100.7 106.4 97.1 105.4 100.1 96.8 99.4
1984 98.6 99.1 107.4 NA NA 97.1 105.3 100.8 106.4 97.1 104.0 99.9 98.6 100.2
1985 98.7 99.3 107.1 NA NA 98.5 101.8 100.2 104.5 96.2 101.3 99.6 97.9 101.2
1986 98.6 99.6 106.5 NA NA 98.6 104.2 100.4 103.9 98.6 100.8 99.7 97.5 101.3
1987 99.1 100.3 106.8 NA NA 99.4 101.8 101.0 103.6 100.4 100.3 97.2 98.7 100.8
1988 100.0 102.1 108.0 NA NA 101.1 101.8 101.3 103.2 104.0 101.1 98.0 98.5 103.3
1989 100.0 101.1 106.8 NA NA 100.6 100.6 101.1 101.7 103.7 100.5 98.6 98.2 102.2
1990 99.4 100.4 105.3 NA NA 101.8 99.4 100.6 99.8 101.2 100.5 98.4 99.3 102.0
1991 98.7 99.8 103.2 NA NA 100.0 99.7 99.4 99.1 100.1 100.2 98.9 99.2 100.9
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 101.3 101.4 97.7 NA NA 98.5 99.2 99.9 97.0 98.0 100.0 100.3 102.6 99.8
1994 102.2 102.0 97.7 NA NA 101.2 NA 100.0 97.1 100.7 100.0 100.5 105.7 101.3
1995 101.5 101.5 98.4 NA NA 100.1 NA 99.5 96.5 100.8 100.3 99.7 107.6 102.3
1996 101.5 102.8 99.2 NA NA 100.5 NA 99.7 95.0 100.0 100.2 99.1 108.0 102.3
1997 102.2 103.0 98.6 NA NA 100.6 NA 99.4 95.2 100.4 99.8 98.7 108.2 102.4
1998 101.8 102.4 97.0 NA NA 100.8 NA 99.7 96.2 100.2 99.7 98.7 108.1 102.1
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 7. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.7 5.7 NA NA NA NA 2.5 1.6 3.4 0.8 3.1 2.2 1.9 1.6
1955 11.7 8.1 3.1 NA NA NA 3.4 2.8 5.0 1.2 4.5 3.4 3.0 2.3
1960 14.9 10.4 4.3 NA NA 5.4 4.6 4.3 8.1 1.6 6.4 4.7 4.1 3.1
1961 15.4 10.7 5.0 NA NA 5.7 5.2 4.7 9.1 1.7 7.3 5.2 4.5 3.3
1962 15.9 11.1 5.7 NA NA 6.2 5.6 5.2 10.3 2.1 7.8 5.7 5.0 3.4
1963 16.4 11.6 6.4 NA NA 6.8 6.1 5.7 11.0 2.4 8.6 6.1 5.6 3.6
1964 17.1 12.1 7.2 NA NA 7.7 6.6 6.2 11.9 2.6 9.9 6.5 6.1 3.8
1965 17.5 12.8 8.1 NA NA 8.5 7.4 6.7 13.1 2.8 11.1 7.2 6.7 4.2
1966 18.3 13.7 9.0 NA NA 9.4 8.4 7.1 14.2 3.0 12.5 7.8 7.3 4.5
1967 19.3 14.4 10.0 NA NA 10.3 9.4 7.6 15.0 3.3 13.8 8.7 8.1 4.7
1968 20.7 15.4 11.7 NA NA 11.0 10.3 8.6 16.1 3.5 15.4 9.6 8.8 5.0
1969 22.2 16.6 13.8 NA NA 12.1 11.6 9.2 17.6 3.8 17.4 10.6 9.6 5.5
1970 23.8 17.8 16.5 NA NA 13.7 13.3 10.3 20.7 4.7 20.2 11.8 10.8 6.3
1971 25.3 18.8 19.0 NA NA 15.9 15.2 11.6 23.2 5.4 23.1 13.5 12.1 7.2
1972 26.6 20.2 21.9 NA NA 18.8 16.9 12.8 25.6 6.0 26.5 15.1 13.5 8.3
1973 28.7 21.9 26.8 NA NA 22.3 20.5 14.7 29.0 7.1 31.6 17.0 15.2 9.5
1974 31.8 25.4 35.1 NA NA 27.4 24.8 17.4 33.0 9.3 37.7 19.9 17.8 11.4
1975 35.7 29.1 40.9 NA NA 33.1 29.6 21.3 36.4 11.7 43.1 23.8 21.9 15.1
1976 38.7 33.3 44.0 NA NA 38.3 33.0 24.4 39.1 14.5 48.1 27.5 25.6 17.6
1977 42.0 37.0 48.6 NA NA 41.4 36.5 27.7 42.8 17.2 52.5 30.9 28.0 19.8
1978 45.4 39.7 51.8 NA NA 44.4 40.2 31.2 45.9 19.8 56.8 34.1 31.2 23.1
1979 49.9 43.2 55.1 NA NA 47.2 45.0 35.4 49.3 24.0 61.1 35.8 33.6 27.5
1980 55.8 47.7 58.6 NA NA 52.5 49.6 40.8 53.6 28.2 64.4 39.0 37.4 33.2
1981 61.3 53.3 62.7 NA NA 57.3 54.6 47.2 57.0 34.1 67.4 43.3 41.3 38.5
1982 67.3 59.9 65.8 NA NA 59.9 59.5 56.1 60.4 40.2 71.5 48.2 44.3 42.4
1983 69.1 63.7 67.6 NA NA 65.7 63.6 61.9 63.1 47.0 74.9 52.9 48.8 45.5
1984 71.5 66.1 69.7 NA NA 71.4 67.2 67.2 66.0 53.9 77.7 57.9 53.0 49.1
1985 75.3 69.9 72.5 NA NA 75.3 71.7 72.8 70.0 60.6 81.8 63.4 58.4 53.1
1986 78.7 72.5 76.1 NA NA 77.3 73.2 75.8 72.8 63.1 85.0 69.1 63.1 57.6
1987 80.9 75.3 77.9 NA NA 79.7 80.1 78.6 76.0 66.7 87.8 78.5 67.3 64.8
1988 84.2 77.8 79.2 NA NA 81.1 82.9 81.6 79.1 69.3 87.7 83.3 71.7 67.7
1989 86.9 82.5 84.2 NA NA 85.9 87.7 86.0 83.2 75.9 88.5 87.2 79.4 72.9
1990 91.0 89.5 90.7 NA NA 90.1 92.7 90.6 89.4 84.4 90.8 92.3 87.6 80.9
1991 95.8 94.7 95.9 NA NA 97.3 95.9 96.2 95.1 93.6 95.2 97.5 95.4 90.5
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.9 99.6 104.6 NA NA 104.8 104.6 102.8 105.9 107.5 103.7 101.5 98.0 104.3
1994 105.8 100.4 106.7 NA NA 106.1 NA 105.0 111.7 107.8 108.2 104.4 101.1 106.5
1995 108.3 103.6 109.5 NA NA 109.2 NA 107.7 117.7 112.8 110.6 109.2 106.2 107.4
1996 110.7 102.8 110.9 NA NA 112.0 NA 109.4 123.7 120.9 113.9 113.6 113.4 108.2
1997 115.1 106.7 114.1 NA NA 115.1 NA 112.4 126.6 125.9 117.5 119.1 118.3 112.8
1998 120.0 110.8 115.0 NA NA 115.9 NA 114.0 127.6 124.8 117.8 126.4 121.5 119.2
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
* Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor
costs to employers.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 8. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.7 6.3 NA NA NA NA 2.2 2.4 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.9 2.1 2.5
1955 11.7 9.9 1.1 NA NA NA 3.0 4.3 1.9 2.4 2.1 2.9 3.3 3.6
1960 14.9 13.0 1.5 NA NA 3.5 4.0 4.6 3.0 3.1 3.0 4.1 4.7 4.9
1961 15.4 12.7 1.8 NA NA 3.7 4.5 5.1 3.5 3.5 3.5 4.5 5.1 5.2
1962 15.9 12.5 2.0 NA NA 4.0 4.9 5.6 4.0 4.1 3.8 4.9 5.7 5.5
1963 16.4 13.0 2.3 NA NA 4.4 5.4 6.1 4.3 4.8 4.2 5.3 6.3 5.7
1964 17.1 13.5 2.5 NA NA 5.0 5.8 6.6 4.7 5.1 4.8 5.6 6.9 6.1
1965 17.5 14.3 2.8 NA NA 5.5 6.4 7.2 5.1 5.5 5.4 6.2 7.6 6.6
1966 18.3 15.4 3.1 NA NA 6.1 7.3 7.6 5.5 5.9 6.1 6.8 8.3 7.2
1967 19.3 16.2 3.5 NA NA 6.7 8.1 8.2 5.9 6.5 6.7 7.6 9.2 7.3
1968 20.7 17.3 4.1 NA NA 7.1 8.3 9.2 6.3 6.9 7.5 8.4 10.0 6.8
1969 22.2 18.6 4.9 NA NA 7.7 9.3 9.4 7.0 7.5 8.5 9.2 10.8 7.4
1970 23.8 20.6 5.8 NA NA 8.9 10.7 9.9 8.9 9.2 9.8 10.3 12.1 8.6
1971 25.3 22.5 6.9 NA NA 10.5 12.4 11.1 10.4 10.7 11.6 11.9 13.8 10.0
1972 26.6 24.6 9.2 NA NA 13.7 14.7 13.4 12.6 12.7 14.5 14.2 16.6 11.8
1973 28.7 26.4 12.5 NA NA 18.5 20.5 17.5 17.1 15.0 20.0 18.4 20.3 13.2
1974 31.8 31.4 15.3 NA NA 22.6 24.6 19.2 19.9 17.6 24.7 22.4 23.5 15.1
1975 35.7 34.6 17.5 NA NA 29.0 31.1 26.3 23.1 22.1 30.1 28.4 30.8 19.0
1976 38.7 40.8 18.8 NA NA 31.9 32.9 27.0 24.3 21.6 32.0 31.3 34.2 17.9
1977 42.0 42.0 23.0 NA NA 37.1 36.7 29.8 28.8 24.0 37.6 36.0 36.5 19.6
1978 45.4 42.1 31.5 NA NA 45.4 44.1 36.7 35.8 28.8 46.2 40.4 40.2 25.1
1979 49.9 44.5 32.0 NA NA 51.7 51.6 44.0 42.0 35.6 53.5 43.9 45.7 33.0
1980 55.8 49.2 32.8 NA NA 57.7 53.2 51.1 46.1 40.5 57.0 49.0 51.5 43.7
1981 61.3 53.7 36.1 NA NA 49.5 46.2 46.0 39.3 36.9 47.4 46.9 47.5 44.1
1982 67.3 58.6 33.5 NA NA 42.1 43.0 45.1 38.8 36.5 47.1 46.4 41.1 42.0
1983 69.1 62.5 36.1 NA NA 41.3 42.0 43.0 38.6 38.1 46.1 45.0 37.1 39.0
1984 71.5 61.7 37.2 NA NA 39.7 39.2 40.7 36.3 37.8 42.6 44.1 37.3 37.2
1985 75.3 61.8 38.5 NA NA 40.8 40.9 42.9 37.2 39.1 43.3 45.8 39.5 39.0
1986 78.7 63.0 57.3 NA NA 55.6 54.6 57.9 52.4 52.1 61.1 58.1 51.6 47.8
1987 80.9 68.6 68.3 NA NA 68.6 70.6 69.2 66.0 63.3 76.2 72.3 61.8 60.2
1988 84.2 76.4 78.4 NA NA 70.9 74.3 72.5 70.4 65.5 78.0 79.3 68.1 68.3
1989 86.9 84.1 77.3 NA NA 70.1 72.3 71.4 69.1 68.1 73.4 78.4 71.6 67.7
1990 91.0 92.7 79.3 NA NA 86.6 90.4 88.0 86.4 86.8 87.7 91.7 86.2 81.7
1991 95.8 99.9 90.3 NA NA 91.5 90.5 90.2 89.4 92.9 89.4 93.3 91.8 90.5
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.9 93.3 119.3 NA NA 97.4 97.4 96.0 100.0 84.2 98.1 88.8 73.3 88.7
1994 105.8 88.8 132.4 NA NA 102.1 NA 100.2 107.6 82.4 104.6 92.0 76.3 92.3
1995 108.3 91.2 147.7 NA NA 119.1 NA 114.3 128.3 85.3 121.2 107.1 86.6 95.9
1996 110.7 91.1 129.3 NA NA 116.3 NA 113.2 128.4 96.5 118.8 109.3 98.5 95.6
1997 115.1 93.1 119.5 NA NA 103.3 NA 101.9 114.0 91.1 105.8 104.5 90.1 104.6
1998 120.0 90.3 111.3 NA NA 102.6 NA 102.3 113.3 88.5 104.4 104.0 89.0 111.9
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
* Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor
costs to employers.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 9. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 NA 20.2 NA NA NA NA 11.0 12.2 25.5 7.5 25.6 9.0 9.5 6.3
1955 NA 23.4 36.1 NA NA NA 13.8 16.9 25.4 7.7 29.8 11.8 13.7 8.3
1960 NA 25.5 30.9 NA NA 30.1 15.4 19.5 27.8 8.0 33.2 12.9 14.9 9.8
1961 NA 24.9 31.8 NA NA 31.5 16.3 20.3 29.7 8.2 35.9 13.6 15.6 10.5
1962 NA 23.9 34.6 NA NA 32.1 17.0 21.0 31.5 8.8 37.2 15.0 16.1 10.8
1963 NA 24.0 35.7 NA NA 34.2 17.9 21.7 32.2 10.1 39.6 15.2 16.8 10.7
1964 NA 23.9 35.4 NA NA 36.3 17.9 21.9 32.1 10.7 42.1 15.4 16.9 10.7
1965 NA 24.1 38.3 NA NA 38.3 18.9 22.2 33.3 10.3 44.4 16.0 17.3 11.4
1966 NA 25.5 38.5 NA NA 39.6 20.5 21.7 34.7 10.1 46.8 16.8 18.2 11.9
1967 NA 26.6 38.1 NA NA 40.9 21.4 22.0 34.5 10.6 48.4 18.1 18.6 11.7
1968 NA 26.7 39.6 NA NA 40.3 21.6 22.6 34.3 10.5 48.2 18.8 18.5 11.7
1969 NA 27.4 41.0 NA NA 40.4 23.4 22.6 35.0 11.1 50.0 19.0 18.7 12.5
1970 NA 30.0 43.3 9.0 22.3 41.7 25.2 24.0 39.8 12.7 53.0 20.4 20.5 14.1
1971 NA 30.0 47.3 9.6 23.4 45.2 27.1 25.4 42.9 14.4 57.2 22.5 22.0 15.3
1972 NA 30.7 49.6 10.6 23.7 47.9 27.8 26.8 44.7 14.9 60.8 23.7 23.4 16.8
1973 NA 31.4 55.7 12.6 27.5 51.2 30.6 28.7 47.5 16.1 65.4 25.1 24.4 17.9
1974 NA 35.8 71.1 15.4 41.5 59.9 35.9 33.4 52.1 19.8 72.8 28.2 27.5 21.1
1975 NA 42.7 80.6 18.0 42.1 69.5 38.9 39.4 55.2 25.9 84.5 34.2 33.3 28.7
1976 NA 45.6 81.9 22.4 43.6 73.1 41.8 42.6 55.4 28.3 85.1 38.3 38.3 31.9
1977 59.6 47.9 86.8 26.1 45.4 75.3 45.4 45.7 58.8 32.8 85.8 43.2 42.6 35.7
1978 63.8 50.6 89.1 31.0 45.8 76.1 49.3 49.3 61.1 35.4 87.0 46.8 46.2 41.0
1979 69.1 55.1 87.5 37.7 52.0 76.8 52.5 53.3 62.9 39.2 89.2 45.8 46.2 48.4
1980 77.6 63.3 91.7 47.9 60.1 80.3 55.0 61.2 69.4 44.0 93.1 50.8 50.6 59.1
1981 81.3 69.1 95.1 55.1 69.8 81.7 59.5 68.9 72.4 51.9 95.1 56.6 56.1 65.2
1982 86.5 79.5 95.8 58.2 74.5 81.5 64.6 76.5 76.7 60.1 99.1 60.5 57.8 68.1
1983 84.9 79.9 97.2 61.8 73.0 81.1 65.8 82.5 76.4 66.8 95.9 64.2 59.7 67.7
1984 84.4 76.3 96.8 66.6 76.2 84.0 69.9 88.2 77.3 69.8 90.6 66.3 61.9 69.4
1985 85.8 77.8 93.8 64.1 79.3 86.5 74.2 92.0 78.6 74.2 91.5 70.2 67.1 73.4
1986 89.1 81.2 99.0 63.5 82.3 88.0 80.4 94.3 81.2 76.3 93.5 77.7 71.3 76.9
1987 85.7 82.5 96.0 67.6 82.1 89.7 88.4 96.2 86.3 78.3 95.8 84.1 74.7 81.5
1988 85.9 85.5 93.4 75.7 84.2 88.1 88.2 93.4 86.5 79.9 93.5 90.4 79.0 82.2
1989 89.5 89.2 94.0 80.8 87.9 88.7 88.1 93.6 87.9 84.9 91.1 92.2 84.7 84.6
1990 93.1 93.9 95.0 85.9 94.3 93.0 93.6 96.8 90.3 91.3 92.1 95.6 92.3 91.6
1991 97.5 99.6 96.5 95.0 95.6 98.1 96.3 99.3 93.3 98.4 95.6 100.0 100.4 98.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.8 97.2 104.1 103.8 100.9 102.3 100.1 102.2 105.3 104.4 101.8 100.9 91.8 100.2
1994 97.7 94.5 104.9 108.2 102.0 97.9 93.0 96.8 103.6 102.1 94.8 102.9 87.0 99.7
1995 94.3 95.2 100.1 120.4 102.1 96.4 93.4 94.0 105.9 103.2 92.3 107.1 86.8 102.5
1996 94.3 95.8 95.8 126.5 101.8 97.6 92.3 95.1 107.5 109.6 91.5 111.4 90.4 104.7
1997 94.3 96.2 95.0 116.1 100.3 94.6 95.3 91.1 103.9 111.1 89.9 116.9 88.5 108.7
1998 94.5 99.2 95.4 107.1 99.1 94.7 94.9 89.4 100.4 109.8 88.7 121.4 89.0 113.8
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
* Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor
costs to employers.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 10. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 NA 22.4 NA NA NA NA 9.6 18.4 9.5 14.7 11.8 7.8 10.7 10.0
1955 NA 28.7 12.7 NA NA NA 12.0 25.6 9.4 15.1 13.8 10.2 15.5 13.2
1960 NA 31.8 10.9 NA NA 19.4 13.5 21.1 10.4 16.0 15.5 11.3 16.8 15.6
1961 NA 29.7 11.2 NA NA 20.3 14.3 21.9 11.6 16.4 17.4 11.9 17.6 16.7
1962 NA 27.1 12.1 NA NA 20.7 14.9 22.7 12.3 17.4 18.2 13.0 18.2 17.1
1963 NA 26.9 12.5 NA NA 22.0 15.7 23.5 12.6 20.1 19.3 13.2 18.9 17.0
1964 NA 26.8 12.4 NA NA 23.5 15.6 23.7 12.6 21.1 20.5 13.3 19.1 16.9
1965 NA 27.1 13.4 NA NA 24.8 16.5 24.0 13.0 20.3 21.7 13.9 19.6 18.0
1966 NA 28.6 13.5 NA NA 25.6 17.9 23.4 13.6 19.9 22.7 14.6 20.5 18.8
1967 NA 29.8 13.3 NA NA 26.5 18.5 23.7 13.5 20.9 23.7 15.7 21.0 18.3
1968 NA 30.0 13.9 NA NA 25.9 17.4 24.2 13.4 20.7 23.4 16.4 20.9 15.9
1969 NA 30.8 14.5 NA NA 25.9 18.8 23.1 13.9 21.8 24.3 16.5 21.0 16.9
1970 NA 34.7 15.3 22.8 14.0 27.0 20.3 23.0 17.1 24.9 25.8 17.8 23.0 19.2
1971 NA 35.9 17.3 21.6 14.7 29.9 22.1 24.4 19.3 28.7 28.8 19.9 25.1 21.2
1972 NA 37.5 20.8 21.2 14.9 35.0 24.1 28.2 21.9 31.4 33.3 22.3 28.7 23.8
1973 NA 38.0 26.1 24.8 18.1 42.4 30.7 34.3 28.0 34.2 41.4 27.2 32.7 24.8
1974 NA 44.3 30.9 29.8 27.5 49.5 35.6 36.8 31.5 37.6 47.7 31.7 36.2 28.0
1975 NA 50.8 34.5 29.2 27.9 60.9 40.9 48.7 35.1 48.9 58.9 40.7 46.8 36.1
1976 NA 55.9 35.0 36.3 28.9 60.9 41.8 47.2 34.4 41.9 56.7 43.6 51.3 32.6
1977 59.6 54.5 41.1 42.3 30.1 67.6 45.7 49.2 39.6 45.8 61.5 50.4 55.5 35.3
1978 63.8 53.7 54.2 50.3 31.1 77.8 54.1 58.0 47.6 51.4 70.8 55.5 59.5 44.6
1979 69.1 56.8 50.9 61.2 36.3 84.2 60.3 66.4 53.6 58.1 78.2 56.2 62.8 58.2
1980 77.6 65.4 51.3 61.9 42.0 88.3 58.9 76.7 59.6 63.3 82.4 63.9 69.6 77.8
1981 81.3 69.6 54.6 63.5 47.6 70.6 50.4 67.0 49.9 56.2 66.9 61.3 64.6 74.7
1982 86.5 77.8 48.8 62.4 47.9 57.2 46.7 61.5 49.3 54.7 65.2 58.2 53.6 67.4
1983 84.9 78.3 51.8 62.5 45.9 51.0 43.4 57.3 46.7 54.2 59.1 54.7 45.3 58.1
1984 84.4 71.2 51.7 64.7 48.4 46.8 40.8 53.5 42.4 49.0 49.6 50.5 43.6 52.5
1985 85.8 68.9 49.9 58.4 50.0 46.9 42.3 54.2 41.7 47.9 48.5 50.8 45.4 53.9
1986 89.1 70.6 74.5 56.4 54.7 63.4 60.0 72.1 58.5 63.0 67.2 65.3 58.3 63.9
1987 85.7 75.2 84.2 64.3 65.0 77.2 77.9 84.7 74.9 74.4 83.1 77.5 68.5 75.7
1988 85.9 83.9 92.4 80.9 74.0 77.0 79.0 82.9 76.9 75.6 83.1 86.1 75.0 82.9
1989 89.5 91.0 86.3 94.0 83.8 72.3 72.6 77.7 73.0 76.2 75.5 82.9 76.4 78.5
1990 93.1 97.2 83.1 94.9 88.2 89.5 91.3 94.1 87.3 93.8 88.9 95.0 90.8 92.5
1991 97.5 105.0 90.9 101.1 89.9 92.3 90.8 93.1 87.8 97.6 89.8 95.7 96.6 98.2
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.8 91.1 118.8 101.1 96.1 95.1 93.2 95.5 99.4 81.8 96.3 88.3 68.6 85.2
1994 97.7 83.6 130.1 105.2 97.0 94.2 88.3 92.4 99.8 78.1 91.6 90.7 65.7 86.4
1995 94.3 83.8 135.1 122.3 96.9 105.2 100.7 99.8 115.5 78.0 101.2 105.0 70.8 91.6
1996 94.3 84.9 111.7 123.3 93.3 101.4 96.1 98.4 111.6 87.5 95.4 107.1 78.5 92.5
1997 94.3 83.9 99.5 95.8 87.7 84.9 87.0 82.6 93.5 80.3 81.0 102.5 67.5 100.8
1998 94.5 80.8 92.3 60.0 74.3 83.8 85.5 80.2 89.1 77.9 78.6 99.9 65.2 106.8
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
* Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor
costs to employers.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 11. Exchange rates, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998 (Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar)
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 100.0 110.5 35.2 NA NA NA 87.5 151.3 37.2 197.3 46.2 87.1 112.6 158.6
1955 100.0 122.5 35.2 NA NA NA 87.4 151.2 37.1 197.1 46.1 87.0 112.6 158.0
1960 100.0 124.6 35.2 NA NA 64.5 87.6 107.9 37.4 198.4 46.6 87.1 112.7 159.0
1961 100.0 119.4 35.1 NA NA 64.5 87.4 107.9 38.9 198.4 48.5 87.0 112.7 158.6
1962 100.0 113.1 35.1 NA NA 64.6 87.5 108.0 39.1 198.5 48.8 87.1 113.0 159.0
1963 100.0 112.0 35.1 NA NA 64.5 87.4 108.0 39.2 198.2 48.8 86.9 112.3 158.5
1964 100.0 112.0 35.0 NA NA 64.6 87.3 108.0 39.3 197.3 48.8 86.8 113.1 158.1
1965 100.0 112.1 35.1 NA NA 64.8 87.3 108.0 39.1 197.2 48.8 86.9 112.9 158.3
1966 100.0 112.2 35.0 NA NA 64.5 87.4 107.7 39.1 197.3 48.6 86.9 112.8 158.1
1967 100.0 112.0 35.0 NA NA 64.7 86.5 107.6 39.2 197.4 48.8 86.9 112.9 155.7
1968 100.0 112.2 35.2 NA NA 64.4 80.7 106.9 39.1 197.7 48.6 87.0 112.7 135.5
1969 100.0 112.2 35.4 NA NA 64.1 80.3 102.2 39.8 196.4 48.5 87.0 112.7 135.3
1970 100.0 115.8 35.4 252.7 62.9 64.7 80.5 95.7 42.8 196.5 48.6 86.9 112.3 135.6
1971 100.0 119.7 36.5 226.0 62.9 66.2 81.6 96.1 44.9 199.3 50.4 88.3 114.1 138.4
1972 100.0 122.0 41.8 199.7 62.9 73.0 86.8 104.9 49.0 211.1 54.8 94.3 122.5 141.6
1973 100.0 120.8 46.8 197.0 65.8 82.8 100.2 119.3 59.0 211.8 63.3 108.2 133.8 138.8
1974 100.0 123.6 43.5 194.0 66.2 82.7 99.3 110.1 60.5 189.4 65.5 112.6 131.4 132.5
1975 100.0 118.8 42.7 162.1 66.2 87.6 105.3 123.6 63.6 188.9 69.7 119.2 140.6 125.8
1976 100.0 122.6 42.8 162.1 66.2 83.3 99.9 110.9 62.1 148.4 66.6 113.9 133.7 102.2
1977 100.0 113.7 47.3 162.1 66.2 89.7 100.6 107.7 67.3 139.6 71.7 116.8 130.4 98.8
1978 100.0 106.0 60.8 162.1 67.9 102.3 109.6 117.6 77.9 145.2 81.4 118.6 129.0 108.6
1979 100.0 103.2 58.1 162.1 69.8 109.6 114.8 124.4 85.2 148.3 87.7 122.7 135.9 120.2
1980 100.0 103.4 55.9 129.2 69.8 110.0 107.1 125.3 85.9 143.9 88.5 125.8 137.7 131.7
1981 100.0 100.8 57.5 115.2 68.3 86.4 84.6 97.3 69.0 108.2 70.4 108.2 115.0 114.6
1982 100.0 97.9 50.9 107.2 64.3 70.2 72.4 80.5 64.3 91.0 65.8 96.2 92.7 99.0
1983 100.0 98.1 53.4 101.1 62.8 62.9 66.0 69.5 61.2 81.1 61.6 85.1 75.9 85.8
1984 100.0 93.3 53.4 97.1 63.5 55.7 58.3 60.6 54.9 70.2 54.8 76.2 70.4 75.7
1985 100.0 88.5 53.2 91.0 63.1 54.2 57.0 58.9 53.1 64.5 53.0 72.3 67.7 73.5
1986 100.0 87.0 75.3 88.7 66.5 72.0 74.6 76.4 72.0 82.6 71.8 84.0 81.7 83.1
1987 100.0 91.1 87.7 95.0 79.2 86.1 88.2 88.0 86.9 95.0 86.8 92.2 91.8 92.8
1988 100.0 98.2 98.9 106.8 87.9 87.4 89.6 88.8 88.9 94.6 88.9 95.2 94.9 100.8
1989 100.0 102.1 91.8 116.4 95.3 81.6 82.5 83.0 83.0 89.8 82.9 89.9 90.2 92.7
1990 100.0 103.6 87.4 110.4 93.5 96.2 97.5 97.2 96.6 102.8 96.6 99.4 98.4 101.0
1991 100.0 105.5 94.2 106.5 94.0 94.0 94.3 93.7 94.0 99.3 93.9 95.7 96.3 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.0 93.7 114.1 97.4 95.2 93.0 93.1 93.4 94.4 78.3 94.6 87.5 74.7 85.0
1994 100.0 88.4 124.1 97.2 95.1 96.2 95.0 95.4 96.3 76.5 96.7 88.1 75.5 86.7
1995 100.0 88.1 134.9 101.5 95.0 109.1 107.8 106.2 109.1 75.6 109.6 98.1 81.6 89.4
1996 100.0 88.6 116.5 97.5 91.6 103.8 104.1 103.5 103.8 79.9 104.3 96.2 86.8 88.4
1997 100.0 87.3 104.7 82.5 87.4 89.8 91.3 90.7 90.0 72.3 90.1 87.7 76.2 92.7
1998 100.0 81.5 96.8 56.0 75.0 88.5 90.1 89.7 88.8 70.9 88.7 82.3 73.3 93.8
NA: Not Available
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 12. Average annual compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.8 6.1 NA NA NA NA 3.5 2.0 4.9 0.9 4.0 2.9 2.4 1.9
1955 11.9 8.3 3.7 NA NA NA 4.7 3.4 7.3 1.4 5.9 4.4 3.8 2.7
1960 14.8 10.7 5.3 NA NA 6.8 6.0 5.2 10.7 1.8 8.4 6.0 5.0 3.5
1961 15.3 10.9 6.1 NA NA 7.2 6.6 5.7 11.8 2.0 9.2 6.4 5.5 3.7
1962 16.0 11.4 6.8 NA NA 7.8 7.2 6.3 13.0 2.3 9.8 7.0 6.1 3.9
1963 16.6 11.9 7.6 NA NA 8.6 7.8 6.9 13.7 2.7 10.7 7.5 6.6 4.0
1964 17.4 12.5 8.5 NA NA 9.6 8.5 7.5 14.8 2.9 12.3 8.0 7.1 4.4
1965 17.9 13.3 9.4 NA NA 10.5 9.4 8.0 16.2 3.0 13.8 8.7 7.8 4.7
1966 18.8 14.1 10.4 NA NA 11.5 10.4 8.5 17.4 3.2 15.3 9.5 8.6 5.0
1967 19.5 14.9 11.7 NA NA 12.4 11.6 9.1 17.8 3.6 16.9 10.5 9.3 5.1
1968 20.9 15.8 13.5 NA NA 13.3 12.5 10.0 19.4 3.8 18.5 11.3 9.9 5.5
1969 22.3 17.0 15.8 NA NA 14.4 13.8 10.9 21.3 4.2 20.7 12.2 10.6 6.0
1970 23.4 18.1 18.6 NA NA 16.0 15.3 12.1 24.8 5.0 23.5 13.4 11.9 6.8
1971 24.9 19.1 21.2 NA NA 18.2 17.5 13.5 27.2 5.6 26.6 15.2 13.3 7.6
1972 26.6 20.5 24.3 NA NA 21.0 19.0 14.7 29.8 6.2 30.1 16.7 14.5 8.7
1973 28.6 22.1 29.4 NA NA 24.3 21.8 16.6 33.4 7.4 35.2 18.7 15.9 10.1
1974 31.2 25.4 37.0 NA NA 29.2 26.9 19.5 37.2 9.3 40.7 21.7 18.5 11.7
1975 34.5 28.8 42.1 NA NA 33.3 31.1 23.1 40.0 11.5 45.7 25.8 22.3 15.5
1976 37.8 33.0 46.7 NA NA 39.3 34.8 26.5 44.3 14.3 50.9 29.1 25.8 18.1
1977 41.2 36.6 51.6 NA NA 42.3 38.2 29.9 47.7 16.9 55.3 32.1 27.9 20.6
1978 44.6 39.5 55.2 NA NA 45.2 41.6 33.4 50.6 19.4 59.2 34.6 30.3 23.9
1979 48.6 42.8 59.1 NA NA 48.1 46.5 37.8 54.1 23.3 62.9 35.8 32.2 28.3
1980 53.8 46.8 62.9 NA NA 52.7 51.6 43.5 57.9 27.4 66.7 39.1 35.4 33.0
1981 59.1 52.4 66.8 NA NA 56.1 56.1 49.8 60.9 33.1 70.2 43.6 39.3 37.8
1982 63.6 58.5 69.9 NA NA 60.0 62.0 56.7 64.1 39.0 75.3 48.1 42.4 42.0
1983 67.2 63.2 71.9 NA NA 64.2 67.2 62.3 67.2 45.6 78.9 53.0 47.3 45.2
1984 70.5 65.5 74.8 NA NA 69.3 70.8 67.7 70.3 52.3 80.7 57.9 52.3 49.2
1985 74.3 69.4 77.6 NA NA 74.1 73.0 72.9 73.1 58.3 82.9 63.1 57.2 53.7
1986 77.6 72.2 81.1 NA NA 76.2 76.3 76.1 75.6 62.2 85.7 68.9 61.5 58.3
1987 80.2 75.5 83.3 NA NA 79.2 81.5 79.4 78.8 67.0 88.1 76.3 66.4 65.3
1988 84.2 79.5 85.6 NA NA 81.9 84.4 82.7 81.7 72.0 88.6 81.7 70.6 69.9
1989 86.9 83.4 89.9 NA NA 86.4 88.2 86.9 84.6 78.7 89.0 86.0 77.9 74.6
1990 90.5 89.8 95.5 NA NA 91.7 92.1 91.1 89.2 85.4 91.2 90.9 87.0 82.5
1991 94.6 94.6 98.9 NA NA 97.3 95.6 95.7 94.3 93.7 95.4 96.4 94.6 91.3
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 104.3 101.0 102.1 NA NA 103.2 103.8 102.7 102.8 105.4 103.7 101.8 100.5 104.1
1994 108.1 102.4 104.3 NA NA 107.4 106.0 105.0 108.5 108.6 108.2 105.0 106.8 107.8
1995 110.0 105.1 107.7 NA NA 109.2 110.0 107.1 113.6 113.7 110.9 108.8 114.3 109.8
1996 112.3 105.7 110.1 NA NA 112.6 113.8 109.1 117.6 120.9 114.1 112.6 122.5 110.7
1997 117.6 109.9 112.6 NA NA 115.8 118.2 111.7 120.5 126.4 117.3 117.5 127.9 115.5
1998 122.1 113.5 111.5 NA NA 116.8 120.4 113.6 122.8 125.0 117.4 124.8 131.3 121.7
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
* Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor
costs to employers.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 13. Real hourly compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 50.7 38.7 NA NA NA NA 28.6 19.8 11.7 18.4 17.1 26.3 25.2 26.6
1955 61.3 48.7 18.2 NA NA NA 31.9 26.7 15.9 21.4 21.2 29.4 30.5 29.1
1960 70.7 57.1 23.2 NA NA 24.5 38.7 30.1 23.6 24.5 26.4 36.3 35.3 34.1
1961 72.1 58.1 25.6 NA NA 25.7 41.7 32.2 25.8 26.4 29.8 38.7 37.9 35.2
1962 74.1 59.6 27.4 NA NA 27.2 42.5 34.0 28.4 29.6 31.0 40.3 40.3 35.5
1963 75.3 61.2 28.4 NA NA 29.4 43.9 35.4 29.4 32.6 33.1 42.0 43.3 36.4
1964 77.4 62.7 30.8 NA NA 31.9 45.7 37.2 31.1 32.8 36.2 42.5 45.7 37.6
1965 77.8 64.8 32.2 NA NA 34.0 47.7 39.3 33.1 33.7 39.0 45.0 48.0 39.2
1966 79.1 67.1 33.8 NA NA 36.1 50.8 40.6 34.7 35.1 41.4 47.6 49.4 40.8
1967 80.9 68.2 36.4 NA NA 38.3 53.0 42.5 36.1 37.9 44.3 50.9 52.5 41.8
1968 83.5 69.8 40.2 NA NA 39.9 54.0 46.3 38.3 40.0 47.5 54.2 56.0 42.9
1969 85.1 72.1 45.3 NA NA 42.1 58.7 47.5 41.0 42.7 50.2 58.0 58.8 44.2
1970 86.2 74.6 50.0 NA NA 46.1 62.9 51.1 46.7 49.5 55.6 58.3 61.7 47.8
1971 87.6 77.0 54.4 NA NA 51.1 68.3 54.1 49.8 54.3 59.1 62.8 64.0 49.7
1972 89.3 78.6 59.7 NA NA 57.3 71.0 56.2 52.3 57.6 62.9 65.3 67.4 53.5
1973 90.6 79.3 65.4 NA NA 63.6 78.8 60.0 55.4 61.4 69.4 68.5 69.7 55.8
1974 90.6 83.0 69.5 NA NA 69.4 82.7 62.7 58.9 67.2 75.6 73.4 74.7 57.8
1975 93.1 85.9 72.5 NA NA 74.3 90.0 68.4 61.3 72.4 78.5 78.6 83.5 62.0
1976 95.3 91.1 71.4 NA NA 78.9 92.1 71.5 63.1 77.1 80.5 83.2 88.3 61.7
1977 97.3 93.6 72.8 NA NA 79.5 91.8 74.2 66.7 76.5 82.3 85.6 86.0 60.1
1978 97.7 92.2 74.5 NA NA 81.6 91.9 76.5 69.9 78.4 85.6 87.4 88.8 64.4
1979 96.4 91.9 76.4 NA NA 83.1 93.7 78.4 72.2 82.0 88.2 87.6 89.8 67.4
1980 95.0 92.1 75.4 NA NA 86.6 92.0 79.5 74.6 79.4 87.4 86.0 87.5 69.0
1981 94.7 91.3 77.0 NA NA 87.8 90.7 81.2 74.6 80.9 85.7 84.1 86.2 72.0
1982 97.8 92.5 78.6 NA NA 84.5 89.7 86.2 75.0 82.0 85.8 84.1 85.0 72.4
1983 97.4 93.1 79.2 NA NA 86.1 89.7 86.9 76.0 83.4 87.4 85.1 84.3 74.4
1984 96.5 92.5 79.8 NA NA 88.0 89.2 87.7 77.7 86.6 87.8 87.7 85.0 76.3
1985 98.2 94.0 81.4 NA NA 88.5 90.9 89.6 80.7 89.6 90.4 90.8 87.2 77.8
1986 100.7 93.7 85.0 NA NA 89.7 89.5 90.9 84.1 87.9 93.9 92.4 90.3 81.5
1987 99.9 93.2 86.9 NA NA 91.0 94.1 91.5 87.7 88.8 97.4 96.4 92.3 88.1
1988 99.9 92.6 87.8 NA NA 91.5 93.2 92.6 90.3 87.9 96.6 96.0 94.0 87.7
1989 98.3 93.4 91.1 NA NA 94.1 94.1 94.1 92.3 90.3 96.3 96.1 98.1 87.7
1990 97.7 95.9 95.3 NA NA 95.4 96.9 96.0 96.6 94.6 96.5 97.7 97.4 88.9
1991 98.7 96.1 97.6 NA NA 99.7 98.0 98.8 99.1 98.7 98.1 99.8 97.2 93.9
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.0 97.9 103.2 NA NA 102.0 103.3 100.7 102.1 103.2 101.1 99.2 95.3 102.7
1994 100.1 98.4 104.7 NA NA 100.9 NA 101.2 104.8 99.6 102.7 100.7 96.2 102.3
1995 99.7 99.4 107.4 NA NA 102.3 NA 102.0 108.7 98.9 103.1 102.7 96.8 99.7
1996 99.0 97.1 108.8 NA NA 102.8 NA 101.6 112.8 102.0 104.2 105.6 102.7 98.1
1997 100.6 99.2 109.9 NA NA 104.0 NA 103.1 113.3 104.4 105.2 107.9 105.8 99.2
1998 103.3 102.2 110.1 NA NA 103.7 NA 103.8 113.3 101.6 103.5 112.0 107.5 101.4
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
Table 14. Real average annual compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1998
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 51.4 41.6 NA NA NA NA 40.2 24.3 17.2 20.2 22.3 34.4 32.8 30.9
1955 62.2 50.3 21.6 NA NA NA 44.0 32.5 23.3 24.1 27.7 38.6 39.3 34.2
1960 70.3 58.7 28.6 NA NA 30.8 50.7 36.6 31.0 28.0 34.8 45.8 43.1 39.3
1961 71.8 59.4 31.1 NA NA 32.2 53.1 39.4 33.4 29.8 37.6 48.0 45.8 40.1
1962 74.5 61.4 32.6 NA NA 34.2 54.5 41.5 35.8 32.4 39.0 49.9 48.4 39.9
1963 76.0 63.2 33.6 NA NA 37.0 55.4 43.1 36.5 35.9 41.4 51.7 51.5 40.9
1964 78.7 65.0 36.2 NA NA 40.0 58.3 45.0 38.7 36.1 44.9 52.6 53.7 42.6
1965 79.9 67.3 37.2 NA NA 41.9 60.6 47.2 41.0 35.8 48.2 54.5 56.0 43.9
1966 81.5 69.1 39.2 NA NA 44.1 63.4 48.9 42.4 37.8 50.8 57.8 57.5 44.9
1967 81.9 70.3 42.3 NA NA 46.2 65.4 50.7 42.9 41.4 54.2 61.2 60.2 45.6
1968 84.4 71.8 46.6 NA NA 48.2 65.1 53.7 46.1 43.6 57.1 63.6 62.8 47.2
1969 85.3 73.9 51.8 NA NA 50.3 69.9 56.4 49.5 46.3 59.5 66.5 64.8 48.6
1970 84.6 75.9 56.6 NA NA 53.6 72.5 59.9 56.0 52.6 64.7 66.3 67.9 51.8
1971 86.2 78.1 60.6 NA NA 58.5 78.5 63.0 58.4 56.2 68.1 70.8 70.2 52.5
1972 89.4 79.8 66.1 NA NA 64.2 79.8 64.7 60.7 59.2 71.5 72.5 72.0 56.0
1973 90.5 79.9 71.9 NA NA 69.5 83.9 68.0 63.8 63.8 77.3 75.6 73.1 59.1
1974 88.8 83.1 73.2 NA NA 73.9 89.8 70.1 66.5 67.4 81.7 80.0 77.5 59.3
1975 89.9 84.9 74.7 NA NA 74.9 94.6 74.2 67.4 71.3 83.2 85.3 85.0 63.4
1976 93.2 90.2 75.7 NA NA 80.9 97.3 77.8 71.5 76.0 85.2 87.9 88.8 63.7
1977 95.5 92.6 77.3 NA NA 81.2 96.0 80.0 74.3 75.0 86.7 89.0 85.9 62.4
1978 95.9 91.8 79.4 NA NA 83.2 95.0 81.9 76.9 76.6 89.2 88.8 86.3 66.6
1979 93.9 91.2 82.0 NA NA 84.7 96.8 83.6 79.2 79.6 90.9 87.5 86.0 69.4
1980 91.6 90.5 80.9 NA NA 87.0 95.7 84.9 80.7 77.3 90.6 86.3 83.0 68.8
1981 91.2 89.7 82.0 NA NA 86.1 93.2 85.6 79.7 78.7 89.3 84.6 82.1 70.6
1982 92.5 90.3 83.5 NA NA 84.7 93.5 87.2 79.7 79.6 90.4 83.8 81.3 71.8
1983 94.6 92.2 84.3 NA NA 84.1 94.7 87.4 80.9 81.0 92.2 85.3 81.7 73.9
1984 95.2 91.7 85.7 NA NA 85.4 93.9 88.5 82.7 84.0 91.3 87.7 83.9 76.4
1985 96.9 93.4 87.2 NA NA 87.1 92.5 89.8 84.3 86.2 91.6 90.4 85.3 78.7
1986 99.3 93.3 90.5 NA NA 88.4 93.3 91.3 87.3 86.7 94.6 92.1 88.0 82.6
1987 99.1 93.4 92.8 NA NA 90.5 95.8 92.3 90.9 89.2 97.7 93.7 91.0 88.8
1988 99.9 94.6 94.8 NA NA 92.5 94.9 93.7 93.2 91.3 97.6 94.1 92.6 90.6
1989 98.3 94.5 97.4 NA NA 94.7 94.6 95.1 93.9 93.7 96.8 94.7 96.3 89.6
1990 97.1 96.3 100.3 NA NA 97.0 96.3 96.5 96.4 95.8 96.9 96.2 96.7 90.6
1991 97.4 95.9 100.6 NA NA 99.7 97.6 98.2 98.2 98.8 98.3 98.7 96.4 94.8
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 101.3 99.2 100.8 NA NA 100.5 102.5 100.6 99.1 101.1 101.1 99.5 97.8 102.5
1994 102.4 100.3 102.3 NA NA 102.1 102.6 101.2 101.7 100.3 102.7 101.2 101.7 103.6
1995 101.3 100.9 105.7 NA NA 102.3 104.3 101.5 104.9 99.7 103.5 102.4 104.1 102.0
1996 100.4 99.8 107.9 NA NA 103.3 105.7 101.3 107.2 102.0 104.5 104.6 111.0 100.4
1997 102.8 102.2 108.4 NA NA 104.6 107.4 102.5 107.9 104.8 105.0 106.5 114.4 101.5
1998 105.1 104.6 106.7 NA NA 104.5 107.4 103.5 109.0 101.9 103.2 110.5 116.2 103.5
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands,
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1999.
TECHNICAL NOTES
The Bureau of Labor Statistics constructs trend indexes of manufacturing
labor productivity (output per hour), hourly compensation costs, and unit
labor costs from three basic aggregate measures-output, total labor hours, and
total compensation. The hours and compensation measures refer to all employed
persons, including self-employed persons and unpaid family workers, in the
United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the United
Kingdom, and to all employees (wage and salary earners) in the other
economies. For all of the countries, the term "hours" refers to hours worked.
In general, the measures relate to total manufacturing as defined by the
International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). However, the
measures for France (through 1989) refer to mining and manufacturing less
energy-related products, and the measures for Denmark include mining and
exclude manufacturing handicrafts from 1960 to 1966.
The comparisons in this news release make use of data made available to BLS
as of June 1999 by the statistical agencies of the individual countries. For
some countries, for the most recent years, these data are based on the
European System of Integrated National Accounts (ESA 95) or on the United
Nations revised System of National Accounts (SNA 93). For other countries,
data were compiled according to previously used systems.
To obtain historical time series, BLS may link together data series
compiled according to different accounting systems.
Output. For most countries, the output measures are value added in
manufacturing from the national accounts. However, output for Japan prior to
1970 and for the Netherlands prior to 1960 are indexes of industrial
production. The national accounts measures for the United Kingdom are
essentially identical to their indexes of industrial production.
In this release, manufacturing output data for the United States from 1977
on are the gross product originating (value added) measures prepared by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. U. S.
gross product originating is a chain-type annual-weighted series.1 Comparable
manufacturing output data currently are not available prior to 1977.
The historical real output series for many of the other countries are
estimated using fixed price weights, with the weights updated periodically
(for example, every 5 or 10 years). The Japanese value-added series is based
upon one set of fixed price weights since 1970. Annual-weighted real output
measures are recommended by the SNA 93 and ESA 95 national accounts systems.
Japanese real output for 1996 and subsequent years was revised following
revisions to the deflators for electronic equipment and components. Korean
national accounts data (output and employee compensation) for the period from
1990 reflect the benchmark revisions estimated from new 1995 input-output
tables.
To preserve the comparability of the U.S. measures with those of the other
economies covered, BLS uses gross product originating in manufacturing for the
United States for these comparative measures. The gross product originating
series differs from the manufacturing output series that BLS publishes in its
news releases on quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs. The
quarterly measures are on a "sectoral output" basis rather than a value-added
basis. Sectoral output is gross output less intra-sector transactions.
Labor Input. The total hours measures are developed from statistics of
manufacturing employment and average hours. The series used for France (from
1970 forward), Norway, Sweden, and Canada are official series published with
the national accounts. Where official total hours series are not available,
the measures are developed by BLS using employment figures published with the
national accounts, or other comprehensive employment series, and estimates of
average annual hours worked. For Germany after 1959, BLS uses aggregate hours
worked, which are developed by a research institute of the Ministry of Labor
for use with the national accounts employment figures; earlier figures are BLS
estimates. For the other countries, and Germany before 1959, BLS constructs
its own estimates of average hours.
Denmark has not published estimates of average hours for 1994-1998, and,
therefore, the BLS measure of labor input for Denmark ends in 1993. BLS is in
the process of assessing the comparability of the employment and hours time
series data available from Korean and Taiwanese statistical sources.
Compensation (labor cost). The compensation measures are from the national
accounts. Compensation includes employer expenditures for legally required
insurance programs and contractual and private benefit plans, in addition to
all payments made in cash or in-kind directly to employees. For Canada,
France, and Sweden, compensation is increased to account for other significant
taxes on payroll or employment. For the United Kingdom, compensation is
reduced between 1967 and 1991 to account for subsidies. Self-employed workers
are included in the all-employed-persons measures by assuming that their
hourly compensation is equal to the average for wage and salary employees.
Current Indicators. The measures for recent years may be based on current
indicators of output (such as industrial production indexes), employment,
average hours, and hourly compensation until national accounts and other
statistics, normally used for the long-term measures, become available.
Trade-Weighted Measures. The trade weights for Canada, Japan, and the
European countries were obtained by rescaling a series of weights, developed
by the International Monetary Fund, based on average trade flows over the
1989-91 period. These weights are based on aggregate trade data for total
manufacturing and take account of both bilateral trade and the relative
importance of "third country" markets. The 1989-91 weights do not include
Korea and Taiwan. BLS developed weights for Korea and Taiwan by using data
from an earlier study from the International Monetary Fund and other sources.
The following weights were used for the entire period for which trade-
weighted unit labor cost measures are produced:
Country Weight Country Weight
Canada 23.94 Netherlands 2.13
Japan 28.91 Norway 0.45
Belgium 2.02 Sweden 1.79
Denmark 0.45 United Kingdom 8.50
France 5.58 Korea 5.43
Germany 10.98 Taiwan 5.48
Italy 4.35
Level comparisons. The BLS measures are limited to trend comparisons. BLS
does not prepare level comparisons of manufacturing productivity and unit
labor costs because of data limitations and technical problems in comparing
the levels of manufacturing output among countries. Each country measures
manufacturing output in its own currency units. To compare outputs among
countries, a common unit of measure is needed. Market exchange rates are not
suitable as a basis for comparing output levels. What is needed are
purchasing power parities, which are the number of foreign currency units
required to buy goods and services equivalent to what can be bought with one
unit of U.S. currency.
Purchasing power parities are available for total gross domestic product
(GDP) from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
However, these parities are derived for expenditures made by consumers,
business, and government for goods and services-not for value added by
industry. Therefore, they do not provide purchasing power parities by
industry. The parities for total GDP are not suitable for each component
industry, such as manufacturing.
Some analysts have constructed "proxy purchasing power parities" for
manufacturing, using selected expenditure items from the GDP purchasing power
parities. However, the prices used in this method have a number of
shortcomings because they are based on consumer, business, and government
final expenditures. The data reflect sales to final users, rather than the
output of specific industries, and thus prices include indirect taxes,
distribution margins, and transportation costs. Further, the purchasing power
parities exclude items that, although they are outputs of the manufacturing
sector (e.g., steel, paper, cement, etc.), are only intermediate inputs with
respect to final sales. They also do not reflect an industry's output because
they include imports and exclude exports.
A different approach has been used by researchers at the International
Comparisons of Output and Productivity project at the University of Groningen
in the Netherlands. They develop unit value ratios for matched products,
based on censuses of manufactures data in the various countries. Unit values
are obtained by dividing producers' sales values by quantities shipped. This
procedure also has shortcomings, primarily because only a limited portion of
manufactured products can be matched and the matched products may not be
adequately representative of total manufacturing. For many products, values
are reported but not quantities; for some products, there is no counterpart in
the other country; and other products cannot be matched because they represent
a different mix of product varieties or because of large differences in
qualities.2
1 For more information on the U. S. measure, see Robert E. Yuskavage, "Improved Estimates of Gross Product by Industry, 1959-94," Survey of
Current Business, August 1996, pp. 133-55.
2 For an article based on this approach, see Bart van Ark, "Manufacturing prices, productivity, and labor costs in five economies," Monthly Labor
Review, July 1995, pp. 56-72.
Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov USDL: 99-235
Technical information: (202) 606-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: (202) 606-5902 Friday, August 27, 1999