Full text of 2006 : Text File, USDL: 08-0093
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Technical information: (202) 691-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, January 25, 2008
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF HOURLY COMPENSATION
COSTS IN MANUFACTURING, 2006
Average hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production
workers in manufacturing among 33 foreign economies were 82 percent
of the U.S. level in 2006, increasing from 79 percent in 2005,
according to data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.
Department of Labor. Compensation costs relative to the United
States rose or remained unchanged in 30 of the economies covered in
2006. (See table 1.) For the first time, this news release
contains data for all employees in addition to the series for
production workers. (See discussion on page 6, table B, and table
7.) Both production worker and all employee data are introduced
for the Philippines. The all employee series covers most of the
countries included in the production worker series, but also
introduces Argentina and Slovakia which are not included in the
latter series. A note on China's labor costs appears on page 4 of
this release.
In the United States, hourly compensation costs for production
workers in manufacturing were virtually unchanged at $23.82 in
2006. When measured in national currency terms, trade-weighted
average costs increased 2.6 percent in the combined 33 foreign
economies in 2006. The value of foreign currencies rose 2.0
percent against the U.S. dollar, resulting in a rise in hourly
compensation costs in the foreign economies of 4.7 percent on a
U.S. dollar basis. (See chart 1 and table A.)
Chart 1. Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for
production workers in manufacturing, 1975-2006
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT.
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Compensation costs for production workers expressed in U.S.
dollars
This release provides manufacturing compensation data in terms
of both national currencies and U.S. dollars. While data on a
national currency basis show underlying wage and benefit trends
within each country, frequent and sometimes sharp changes in
currency exchange rates can have a large impact on compensation
costs on a U.S. dollar basis. Data on a U.S. dollar basis are
calculated by dividing compensation costs in the national
currency by the exchange rate (expressed as national currency
units per U.S. dollar). Compensation costs on a U.S. dollar
basis are often used as indicators of competitiveness of
manufactured goods in world trade and are the focus of the
following discussion.
Compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing
measured in U.S. dollars continued to rise in 2006 in most of the
foreign economies-with only two countries, Japan and New Zealand,
showing a decrease in costs. In addition, hourly compensation
costs increased by less than one percent in two economies, Taiwan
and Switzerland (0.2 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively). The
rate of compensation increase in a trade-weighted average of the
33 foreign economies was 4.7 percent in 2006, below the 5.6
percent historical average for the series. (See table A and table
3.)
Chart 2. Indexes of hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars
for production workers in manufacturing, 2006
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT.
Although average costs in the United States continued to be
higher than those in most of the economies covered outside of
Europe, 14 of the 20 European countries covered had higher hourly
compensation costs than the United States, in a few cases more
than 40 percent higher. With the value of the euro remaining
relatively stable against the U.S. dollar in 2006 (+0.9 percent),
European labor costs measured in U.S. dollars showed much weaker
growth than in the earlier years of this decade. The only
European countries to have double-digit growth in hourly
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compensation costs on a U.S. dollar basis in 2006 were the Czech
Republic and Poland (12.2 and 10.5 percent, respectively), both
of which also experienced stronger appreciation of their national
currencies against the dollar than the euro did.
Compensation costs in Europe, on average, continued to be
almost $5 higher on a per hour basis than in the United States.
However, there is great variation in the level of compensation
costs among the European countries covered. For example, hourly
compensation costs in Europe ranged from $4.99 in Poland to more
than eight times that level in Norway ($41.05), the highest labor
cost country in these comparisons. (See table 2.)
Outside of Europe, only Canada and Australia had compensation
costs higher than the United States when measured in U.S.
dollars. In 2006, the lowest compensation costs relative to the
United States were in Mexico and the Philippines (12 percent and
4 percent of the U.S. level, respectively).
Annual percent changes in manufacturing compensation costs
measured in U.S. dollars also varied considerably in 2006.
Hourly compensation costs in Brazil, the Republic of Korea, the
Philippines, and Singapore all showed double-digit growth in 2006
(17.8, 15.5, 16.2, and 17.1 percent, respectively), boosted by an
appreciation of their national currencies against the U.S.
dollar. Japan and New Zealand were the only countries in these
comparisons to show a decrease in hourly compensation costs
measured in U.S. dollars (-6.2 and -3.3 percent, respectively),
largely due to the depreciation of the Japanese yen and New
Zealand dollar against the U.S. dollar.
BOX: A note on the measures
The hourly compensation costs measures in this news release
are based on statistics available to BLS as of September 2007. These
measures are prepared specifically for international comparisons of
employer labor costs in manufacturing. The methods used, as well as
the results, differ somewhat from those of other BLS series on U.S.
compensation costs.
See the Technical Notes for further information regarding
definitions, sources, and computation methods, as well as a
description of the trade-weighted measures for economic groups.
The data for some countries may have been revised in later
updates to reflect new or revised data provided to BLS subsequent
to this news release. See International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation
Costs for Production Workers and All Employees in Manufacturing, 22
Manufacturing Industries at http://www.bls.gov/fls/flshcindnaics.htm
for the most recent data.
END OF BOX: A note on the measures
Exchange rates
The trade-weighted 2.0 percent increase in the value of the
currencies of the 33 foreign economies against the U.S. dollar
was the smallest increase since 2002 (0.4 percent), but well
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above the average annual change since 1975 (-3.4 percent). The
currencies of most economies appreciated in 2006, while the
currencies of only seven economies- Mexico, Australia, Japan, New
Zealand, Taiwan, Hungary, and Switzerland- depreciated against
the dollar. (See table 5.)
The movements of the foreign currencies relative to the U.S.
dollar in 2006 had an influence on hourly manufacturing
compensation costs measured in U.S. dollars. Hourly compensation
costs on a national currency basis in the 33 foreign economies
rose 2.6 percent. However, when adjusted for the appreciation of
the foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar, this increase in
costs was magnified to 4.7 percent. The effect that exchange
rate changes can have on hourly compensation costs is
particularly evident when comparing the labor costs of New
Zealand with those of the United States. On a national currency
basis, the increase in hourly compensation costs in New Zealand
(4.9 percent) was greater than the increase in the United States
(0.1 percent). When adjusted for changes in exchange rates,
however, the increase in costs on a U.S. dollar basis was
significantly lower in New Zealand than in the United States
(-3.3 percent versus 0.1 percent).
BOX: China
Acknowledging the importance of China as one of the United
States' largest trading partners, BLS is including data for China in
this release. Due to data limitations, data are presented separately
and only for 2002-2004.
The compensation costs data presented for China are not
directly comparable with the data for other countries found in this
release. For a description of the methods used to construct the 2002
estimate and possible comparability issues, refer to Judith Banister's
August 2005 article in the Monthly Labor Review found on the BLS
website at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/08/art3full.pdf. In general,
the methods used to update the hourly compensation costs data to
2003 and 2004 are the same as the methods used in the Banister
article and are described in a November 2006 article of the Monthly
Labor Review at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/11/art4full.pdf.
China: Hourly Compensation Costs for All Employees in
Manufacturing, 2002-2004
National U.S. Index
Year Currency Dollar (United
Basis Basis States
(Yuan) (US$) =100)
2002 4.73 0.57 3
2003 5.17 0.62 3
2004 5.50 0.67 3
END OF BOX: China
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Table A. Hourly compensation costs, in national currency and in
U.S. dollars, for production workers in manufacturing and exchange
rates (U.S. dollars per national currency unit)
Percent change, 2005-2006
Hourly Hourly
Country compensation, compensation,
or area national Exchange U.S.
currency Rates dollars
Americas
United States 0.1 - 0.1
Brazil 5.2 12.0 17.8
Canada .4 6.9 7.3
Mexico 4.5 -.2 4.3
Asia and Oceania
Australia 5.4 -1.2 4.1
Hong Kong SAR (1) 2.2 .1 2.4
Israel 4.5 .7 5.2
Japan -.9 -5.3 -6.2
Korea, Republic of 7.7 7.3 15.5
New Zealand 4.9 -7.9 -3.3
Philippines 8.1 7.5 16.2
Singapore 11.7 4.8 17.1
Sri Lanka - - -
Taiwan 1.4 -1.2 .2
Europe
Austria 2.8 .9 3.8
Belgium 2.5 .9 3.5
Czech Republic 5.8 6.0 12.2
Denmark 2.0 .9 2.9
Finland 4.4 .9 5.4
France 2.8 .9 3.8
Germany 1.7 .9 2.6
Greece 4.2 .9 5.2
Hungary 8.2 -5.1 2.7
Ireland 6.5 .9 7.5
Italy 2.5 .9 3.5
Luxembourg .8 .9 1.7
Netherlands .7 .9 1.7
Norway 4.3 .5 4.8
Poland 6.0 4.3 10.5
Portugal 4.2 .9 5.2
Spain 4.2 .9 5.1
Sweden 3.0 1.3 4.4
Switzerland 1.1 -.6 .6
United Kingdom 4.0 1.3 5.3
Trade-weighted measures (2)
All foreign economies 2.6 2.0 4.7
OECD (3) 2.3 1.9 4.2
Europe 2.9 .9 3.9
Asian NIEs (4) 5.8 3.4 9.5
1 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
2 The 2005-2006 percent changes for the trade-weighted measures are
based upon the changes for the countries or areas for which 2006 data
are available.
3 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
4 Asian NIEs refer to Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
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Compensation costs for all employees
For the first time, this news release contains hourly compensation
costs data for all employees in manufacturing in addition to the data
for production workers. The all employee series begins with data for
1996. Production workers generally include those employees who are
engaged in fabricating, assembly, and related activities. All
employees include production workers as well as all others employed
full or part time in an establishment. (See the technical notes
beginning on page 9 for more detailed definitions of production
workers and all employees.) The all employee series includes data
for Argentina and Slovakia, two countries not covered by the
production worker hourly compensation costs. Hong Kong SAR, Sri
Lanka, Greece, and Luxembourg are not included in the all employee
series as comparable data are not available.
As the final column in Table B shows, hourly compensation costs
for all employees are higher than those for production workers in
each economy covered by the two series, generally ranging from 10
percent to 25 percent higher than production worker hourly
compensation costs. The difference between the two series depends
not only upon the higher compensation of non-production workers than
production workers, but also on the relative employment levels of the
two worker groups; typically the larger the portion of all employees
accounted for by production workers, the smaller the gap in
compensation costs.
In the United States, hourly compensation costs for all employees
in manufacturing were $29.60 in 2006, 24 percent higher than
production worker compensation costs. Only 7 of the 28 foreign
economies covered by both the production worker and all employee
hourly compensation costs series had a larger difference between the
compensation levels of the two groups than the United States.
Although Australia was the only non-European economy to have
higher hourly compensation costs than the United States in 2006 for
all employees when measured in U.S. dollars ($30.10), 12 of 18
European countries had higher compensation costs than the United
States. The hourly compensation costs of both the new countries in
the series, Argentina and Slovakia, were 22 percent of the United
States level.
Since high labor costs countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands,
Norway, and Sweden have smaller than average gaps between production
worker and all employee hourly compensation costs, the range of
European compensation costs narrowed when measured on an all
employees basis (21 percent to 172 percent of the United States level
for production workers versus 21 percent to 156 percent of the United
States level for all employees).
Measuring compensation costs on an all employees basis changes the
position of some countries relative to the United States. For
example, production worker compensation costs in Italy were 5 percent
higher than in the United States for 2006. However, the gap between
production worker and all employee hourly compensation costs is much
lower in Italy than in the United States (15 percent versus 24
percent in 2006), so when compensation costs are measured on all
employee basis, Italy's costs are about 3 percent lower than the
United States.
-7-
Table B. Hourly Compensation Costs of Production Workers and All Employees
in Manufacturing, 2006
Country Production All Production All All Employees
or Area Workers Employees Workers Employees (Production
(US=100) (US=100) (US$) (US$) Workers =100)
Americas
United States 100 100 23.82 29.60 124
Argentina - 22 - 6.57 -
Brazil 21 20 4.91 5.90 120
Canada 108 98 25.74 29.00 113
Mexico 12 13 2.75 3.72 135
Asia and Oceania
Australia 110 102 26.14 30.10 115
Hong Kong SAR (1) 24 - 5.78 - -
Israel 54 49 12.98 14.37 111
Japan 85 82 20.20 24.40 121
Korea, Republic of 62 57 14.72 16.87 115
New Zealand 61 54 14.47 16.08 111
Philippines 4 5 1.07 1.36 127
Singapore 36 46 8.55 13.55 158
Sri Lanka - - - - -
Taiwan 27 27 6.43 7.95 124
Europe
Austria 128 124 30.46 36.70 120
Belgium 134 123 31.85 36.35 114
Czech Republic 28 - 6.77 - -
Denmark 149 129 35.45 38.21 108
Finland 126 119 29.90 35.26 118
France 105 114 24.90 33.73 135
Germany 144 139 34.21 41.04 120
Greece 68 - 16.10 - -
Hungary 26 28 6.29 8.39 133
Ireland 109 105 25.96 30.99 119
Italy 105 97 25.07 28.71 115
Luxembourg 116 - 27.74 - -
Netherlands 136 119 32.34 35.34 109
Norway 172 156 41.05 46.31 113
Poland 21 21 4.99 6.26 125
Portugal 32 32 7.65 9.54 125
Slovakia - 22 - 6.53 -
Spain 79 74 18.83 22.05 117
Sweden 133 116 31.80 34.21 108
Switzerland 129 121 30.67 35.68 116
United Kingdom 114 114 27.10 33.71 124
1 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
-8-
Additional data available
In addition to the compensation cost measures covered in this news
release, supplementary tables are available for comparative levels of
hourly compensation costs, hourly direct pay, pay for time worked,
and the structure of compensation for production workers in
manufacturing for all years from 1975 through 2006, and for all
employees in manufacturing for all years from 1996 to 2006. Data
also are available for national currency hourly compensation and
exchange rates in the supplementary tables (http://www.bls.gov/fls).
BLS also computes comparative measures for 22 component
manufacturing industries. Data for the component industries are not
included in this release; in general, the data limitations for the
component industries are greater than for total manufacturing. Data
are available via the Internet (http://www.bls.gov/fls). This series
is updated several times per year as data become available. The data
for component industries currently are available on a North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis from 1992 to 2005.
For further information, contact the Office of Productivity and
Technology by phone at 202-691-5654, by e-mail at flshc@bls.gov, or
by mail at Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE,
Room 2150, Washington, DC 20212.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory
impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD
message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.
This material is in the public domain and, with appropriate
credit, may be reproduced without permission. It may be translated
into foreign languages without permission, with a separate credit for
the translation.
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TECHNICAL NOTES
The tables in this news release present international comparisons of
hourly compensation costs for production workers and all employees in
manufacturing in selected countries or areas. The total compensation measures
are prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in order to assess
international differences in employer labor costs. For several reasons, the
comparisons based on the more readily available average earnings statistics
published by many countries can be misleading: national definitions of average
earnings differ considerably; average earnings do not include all items of
labor compensation; and the omitted items of compensation frequently represent
a large proportion of total compensation.
The compensation measures in this news release are based on statistics
available to BLS as of September 2007. These measures may be revised as data
are collected to update compensation measures for component industries. Data
for component industries are available at
http://www.bls.gov/fls/flshcindnaics.htm.
For the first time, this news release contains data for all employees in
addition to the series for production workers. The production worker series
starts in 1975 and the all employee series in 1996. In addition, production
worker and all employee data are introduced for the Philippines and all
employee data are introduced for Argentina and Slovakia.
Definitions
Hourly compensation costs include (1) hourly direct pay and (2) employer
social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes. Hourly direct pay
includes all payments made directly to the worker, before payroll deductions
of any kind, consisting of pay for time worked and other direct pay. Social
insurance expenditures and other labor taxes include employer expenditures for
legally required insurance programs, contractual and private benefit plans,
and other labor taxes. Other labor taxes refer to taxes on payrolls or
employment (or reductions to reflect subsidies), even if they do not finance
programs that directly benefit workers, because such taxes are regarded as
labor costs.
The BLS definition of hourly compensation costs is not the same as the
International Labor Office (ILO) definition of total labor costs. BLS hourly
compensation costs do not include all items of labor costs. The costs of
recruitment, employee training, and plant facilities and services--such as
cafeterias and medical clinics--are not included because data are not available
for many countries. The labor costs not included account for no more than 2
percent of total labor costs in most countries for which the data are
available.
Production workers generally include those employees who are engaged in
fabricating, assembly, and related activities; material handling, warehousing,
and shipping; maintenance and repair; janitorial and guard services; auxiliary
production (for example, power plants); and other services closely related to
the above activities. Working supervisors are generally included; apprentices
and other trainees are generally excluded.
All employees include production workers as well as all others employed
full or part time in an establishment during a specified payroll period.
Temporary employees are included. Persons are considered employed if they
receive pay for any part of the specified pay period. The self-employed,
unpaid family workers, and workers in private households are also excluded.
-10-
Hourly Compensation Costs consists of:
* Hourly Direct Pay
- Pay for Time Worked
+ Basic wages
+ Piece rate
+ Overtime premiums
+ Shift differentials
+ Bonuses and premiums paid regularly
+ Cost-of-living adjustments
- Other Direct Pay
+ Pay for time not worked (vacations, holidays, and other leave,
except sick leave)
+ Seasonal and irregular bonuses
+ Social allowances
+ Pay in kind
* Employer Social Insurance Expenditures (both legally required and contractual
and private) and Other Labor Taxes
- Retirement and disability pensions
- Health insurance
- Income guarantee insurance and sick leave
- Life and accident insurance
- Occupational injury and illness compensation
- Unemployment insurance
- Family allowances
- Other social insurance expenditures
- Taxes (or subsidies) on payrolls or employment
Data on Hourly Direct Pay, Pay for Time Worked, and Social Insurance
Expenditures can be found in the supplementary tables to this news release at
http://www.bls.gov/fls/hcompsupptabtoc.htm.
Methods
Total compensation is computed by adjusting each country's average
earnings series for items of direct pay not included in earnings and for
employer expenditures for legally required insurance, contractual and private
benefit plans, and other labor taxes and subsidies. For the United States and
other countries that measure earnings on an hours-paid basis, the figures are
also adjusted in order to approximate compensation per hour worked.
Earnings statistics are obtained from surveys of employment, hours, and
earnings or from surveys or censuses of manufactures. These surveys typically
cover firms with a minimum of one to ten employees.
For most countries, adjustment factors are obtained from periodic labor
cost surveys or censuses of manufacturers and interpolated or projected to
non-survey years on the basis of other information. Generally, these surveys
cover all employees in the establishment; survey data are used in both
production worker and all employee series. Other information used includes
tabulations of employer social security contribution rates provided by the
International Social Security Association, information on contractual and
legislated fringe benefit changes from labor bulletins, and statistical series
on indirect labor costs. For the United States, the adjustment factors are
specially constructed for international comparisons using data from several
surveys. The methods used, as well as the results, differ somewhat from those
for other BLS series on U.S. compensation costs.
-11-
The statistics are also adjusted, where necessary, to account for major
differences in worker coverage; differences in industrial classification
systems; and changes over time in survey coverage, sample benchmarks, or
frequency of surveys. Nevertheless, some differences remain. Exceptions to
these methods, as well as data sources can be found in "Country Notes and
Sources" located at www.bls.gov/fls.
Exchange Rates and Currencies
Hourly compensation costs are converted to U.S. dollars using the average
daily exchange rate for the reference period. The exchange rates used are
prevailing commercial market exchange rates as published by either the U.S.
Federal Reserve Board or the International Monetary Fund.
On January 1, 1999, several European countries joined the European
Monetary Union (EMU): Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Greece joined on
January 1, 2001. There are currently other member countries of the EMU that
are not covered in this report. Currencies of EMU members were established at
fixed conversion rates to the euro, the official currency of the EMU. For the
EMU countries data on hourly compensation costs are reported in euros and
exchange rates for the EMU countries relate to euros per dollar for 1999 to
the present; for the years 1975-1998, hourly compensation data are published
in the old national currencies used in each country before the adoption of the
euro. In order to include data on trends in national currency compensation
costs and exchange rates for the entire time period, BLS converts national
currency for 1975-1998 to a "euro" basis for calculation. The conversions for
all years 1975-1998 are made using the official fixed conversion rates for
1999, with the exception of Greece which uses the official fixed conversion
rate for 2001.
Industrial classification
The hourly compensation measures relate to manufacturing on a North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis. NAICS is the common
industrial classification used by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The
NAICS definition of manufacturing differs somewhat from the definition of
manufacturing used in other countries. Some industries that are not included
in the NAICS definition of manufacturing, such as publishing of books and
sound recordings, some repair and maintenance of equipment, and some business
support services, are included in the definition of manufacturing in most
other industrial classifications. In contrast, other industries are included
in the NAICS definition of manufacturing but not in the definition of
manufacturing for most foreign economies, such as some processing of foods,
some packaging, and retail sales of bakery products from the production
facility. Most of the differences other than the treatment of publishing are
very minor and do not have a noticeable impact on overall manufacturing
averages. BLS makes adjustments to remove publishing from manufacturing for
the foreign economies in which it is classified as a part of manufacturing,
except for Sri Lanka, for which the data necessary to remove publishing are
not available. For the countries for which adjustments are made, the effect
of publishing on manufacturing wages is estimated and removed using data from
national sources or the United Nations Industrial Statistics Database, the
International Labor Office (ILO), and other sources. Except for Hong Kong,
the effect of removing publishing from manufacturing does not change the level
of hourly compensation costs for any economy more than 1.5 percent, and the
-12-
change is less than one percent in most countries. For Hong Kong, the effect
of the adjustments is 2 to 4 percent in several years.
Trade-weighted measures
The trade weights used to compute the average compensation cost measures
for selected economic groups are weights based on the relative dollar value of
U.S. trade in manufactured commodities (exports plus imports) with each
country or area in 2004. (See the following table.) The trade data are
compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The only countries not covered in the trade-weighted measures of this report
that accounted for as much as one percent of such trade in 2004 are China,
India, Malaysia, and Thailand. Hourly compensation costs data for China are
included in this report in a special text box. In addition, an article on
manufacturing compensation costs in China is available on the BLS website at
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/11/art4full.pdf. The compensation data on
China are not directly comparable with the data for other countries found in
this news release.
The countries included in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) trade-weighted measure are Canada, Mexico, Australia,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and all European countries covered
in the series. The group labeled "Euro Area" consists of the 12 European
Union member countries in this release that have adopted the euro as the
common currency as of January 1, 2001 (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and
Spain). The group labeled "Europe" consists of the members of the Euro Area
and the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden,
Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The group labeled "Asian NIEs" consists
of the four newly industrialized economies of Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of
Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
The trade-weighted measures relate to all the countries or areas covered
in the series. If data for the most recent year(s) are missing for a country,
trade-weighted estimates are computed using the average percent change of all
the other economies in the series to estimate the missing year(s). An economy
is included in trade-weight series beginning with the start year of that
economy's data series.
The trade-weighted average rates of change are computed as the trade-
weighted arithmetic average of the rates of change for the individual
countries or areas; the trade-weighted average hourly compensation costs are
computed as the trade-weighted arithmetic average of cost levels for the
individual countries or areas. Rates of change derived from the trade-
weighted average hourly compensation cost levels need not be the same as the
trade-weighted average rates of change.
-13-
Share of total U.S. imports and exports of manufactured products in 2004
(in percent)
Country or area 2004 Country or area 2004
and economic trade and economic trade
group share group share
Argentina 0.3 Germany 5.6
Brazil 1.7 Greece 0.1
Canada 20.0 Hungary 0.2
Mexico 12.5 Ireland 1.9
Italy 2.0
Australia 1.1 Luxembourg 0.1
Hong Kong SAR(1) 1.3 Netherlands 1.8
Israel 1.2 Norway 0.2
Japan 9.4 Poland 0.1
Korea, Republic of 3.7 Portugal 0.2
New Zealand 0.2 Slovakia 0.1
Philippines 0.8 Spain 0.7
Singapore 1.8 Sweden 0.8
Sri Lanka 0.1 Switzerland 1.0
Taiwan 2.9 United Kingdom 3.8
Austria 0.4 Economic Groups (2)
Belgium 1.5 33 foreign economies 75.5
Czech Republic 0.1 OECD(3) 66.2
Denmark 0.3 Europe 22.4
Finland 0.3 Euro Area (4) 16.1
France 2.7 Asian NIEs 9.1
(1) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
(2) Trade shares for Economic Groups refer to the country coverage of the
production worker series. The relevant trade shares for the all employee
series are: 31 Foreign Economies, 74.4; OECD, 66.1; Europe, 22.3; Euro Area,
15.9; Asian NIES, 7.9.
(3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(4) Euro Area consists of the European Union member countries in this
release that have adopted the euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
Data limitations
Because compensation is partly estimated, the statistics should not be
considered as precise measures of comparative compensation costs. In
addition, the figures are subject to revision as the results of new labor cost
surveys or other data used to estimate compensation costs become available.
The comparative level figures in this report are averages for all
manufacturing industries and are not necessarily representative of all
component industries. In the United States and some other countries, such as
-14-
Mexico and Taiwan, differentials in hourly compensation cost levels by
industry are fairly wide.
Labor costs versus labor income
The hourly compensation figures in U.S. dollars shown in the tables
provide comparative measures of employer labor costs; they do not provide
inter-country comparisons of the purchasing power of worker incomes. Prices
of goods and services vary greatly among countries, and the commercial market
exchange rates used to compare employer labor costs do not reliably indicate
relative differences in prices. Purchasing power parities, that is, the
number of foreign currency units required to buy goods and services equivalent
to what can be purchased with one unit of U.S. or other base-country currency
must be used for meaningful international comparisons of the relative
purchasing power of worker incomes.
Total compensation converted to U.S. dollars at purchasing power parities
would provide one measure for comparing relative real levels of labor income.
It should be noted, however, that total compensation includes employer
payments to funds for the benefit of workers in addition to payments made
directly to workers. (For a few countries, the compensation measures also
include taxes or subsidies on payrolls or employment even if they do not
finance programs which directly benefit workers.) Payments into these funds
provide either deferred income (for example, payments to retirement funds), a
type of insurance (for example, payments to unemployment or health benefit
funds), or current social benefits (for example, family allowances), and the
relationship between employer payments and current or future worker benefits
is indirect. On the other hand, excluding these payments would understate the
total value of income derived from work because they substitute for worker
savings or self-insurance to cover retirement, medical costs, etc.
Total compensation, because it takes account of employer payments into
funds for the benefit of workers, is a broader income concept than either
total direct earnings or direct spendable earnings. An even broader concept
would take account of all social benefits available to workers, including
those financed out of general revenues as well as those financed through
employment or payroll taxes.
-15-
International Comparison of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing, 2006
List of Tables
Page 16 Table 1. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Indexes of hourly compensation costs
in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic
groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Page 17 Table 2. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in U.S.
dollars in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected
economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Page 18 Table 3. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly
compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 34 countries
or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Page 19 Table 4. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly
compensation costs in national currency in manufacturing, 34
countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years,
1975-2006
Page 20 Table 5. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in exchange
rates (U.S. dollars per national currency unit), 34 countries or
areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Page 21 Table 6. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in national
currency in manufacturing and exchange rates, 34 countries or
areas, 2006
Page 22 Table 7. ALL EMPLOYEES: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in
manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2006
Page 23 Table 8. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars
in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic
groups, selected years, 1996-2006
Page 24 Table 9. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly
compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 32 countries
or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006
Page 25 Table 10. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly
compensation costs in national currency in manufacturing, 32
countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years,
1996-2006
Page 26 Table 11. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in exchange rates
(U.S. dollars per national currency unit), 32 countries or areas
and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006
Page 27 Table 12. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in national
currency in manufacturing and exchange rates, 32 countries or
areas, 2006
-16-
Table 1. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing,
34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Country or area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
BRAZIL.................... - - - - - 18 12 14 17 21
CANADA.................... 99 92 88 110 96 84 87 94 101 108
MEXICO.................... 24 23 12 11 10 11 11 11 11 12
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 91 88 64 88 89 73 88 101 105 110
HONG KONG SAR (1)......... 12 16 14 22 28 28 25 24 24 24
ISRAEL.................... 33 35 29 52 55 58 52 52 52 54
JAPAN..................... 48 57 49 85 137 112 90 95 90 85
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 5 10 10 25 42 42 43 47 54 62
NEW ZEALAND............... 53 56 36 57 60 43 52 59 63 61
PHILIPPINES............... - - - - 5 4 4 4 4 4
SINGAPORE................. 14 16 20 26 45 37 32 32 31 36
SRI LANKA................. 5 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 -
TAIWAN.................... 6 11 12 26 35 32 25 26 27 27
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 73 92 60 120 147 97 113 123 123 128
BELGIUM................... 94 122 65 120 150 102 118 130 129 134
CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - 15 15 21 24 25 28
DENMARK................... 101 112 63 123 146 109 132 146 145 149
FINLAND................... 82 89 65 141 132 91 108 120 119 126
FRANCE.................... 73 92 59 104 112 79 92 101 101 105
GERMANY................... - - - - 175 115 133 143 140 144
GREECE.................... 27 39 29 45 53 39 53 63 64 68
HUNGARY................... - - - - 16 14 21 25 26 26
IRELAND................... 57 67 49 82 82 68 88 98 101 109
ITALY..................... 75 84 60 119 96 74 90 102 102 105
LUXEMBOURG................ 101 119 58 107 137 89 102 113 115 116
NETHERLANDS............... 107 125 69 121 140 98 122 133 134 136
NORWAY.................... 112 123 82 147 145 115 146 157 165 172
POLAND.................... - - - - - 14 16 17 19 21
PORTUGAL.................. 25 21 12 24 30 23 28 30 31 32
SPAIN..................... 41 61 36 76 74 54 67 75 75 79
SWEDEN.................... 115 129 75 140 126 105 118 130 128 133
SWITZERLAND............... 98 114 75 139 168 107 124 131 128 129
UNITED KINGDOM............ 54 78 49 84 80 86 95 107 108 114
Trade-weighted measures
All 33 Foreign Economies
(2,3)................... 62 68 52 80 87 69 72 78 79 82
OECD (4).................. 67 73 56 85 92 74 78 85 86 90
Europe.................... 80 99 61 114 124 91 107 117 117 121
Euro Area (5)............. 82 101 62 117 132 92 109 119 119 123
Asian NIEs (6)............ 8 12 13 25 39 36 33 35 37 42
Dash means data not available.
(1) Average of selected manufacturing industries.
(2) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(3) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly
comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(4) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have
adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(6) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-17-
Table 2. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing,
34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Country or area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 6.16 9.63 12.71 14.81 17.17 19.65 22.48 23.13 23.81 23.82
BRAZIL.................... - - - - - 3.50 2.74 3.14 4.16 4.91
CANADA.................... 6.11 8.87 11.20 16.33 16.50 16.48 19.60 21.85 23.98 25.74
MEXICO.................... 1.46 2.20 1.59 1.57 1.70 2.07 2.44 2.44 2.64 2.75
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 5.60 8.44 8.18 13.09 15.36 14.41 19.79 23.38 25.11 26.14
HONG KONG SAR (1)......... 0.75 1.50 1.73 3.22 4.80 5.45 5.54 5.51 5.65 5.78
ISRAEL.................... 2.02 3.41 3.65 7.69 9.41 11.41 11.62 12.01 12.34 12.98
JAPAN..................... 2.97 5.46 6.27 12.59 23.47 21.93 20.32 21.95 21.54 20.20
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 0.32 0.95 1.23 3.70 7.29 8.23 9.69 10.81 12.74 14.72
NEW ZEALAND............... 3.27 5.44 4.55 8.48 10.35 8.38 11.69 13.65 14.97 14.47
PHILIPPINES............... - - - - 0.94 0.77 0.79 0.84 0.92 1.07
SINGAPORE................. 0.84 1.54 2.55 3.78 7.65 7.30 7.23 7.47 7.30 8.55
SRI LANKA................. 0.28 0.22 0.28 0.35 0.48 0.48 0.51 0.52 0.54 -
TAIWAN.................... 0.38 1.03 1.51 3.91 5.99 6.19 5.69 5.98 6.42 6.43
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 4.50 8.87 7.57 17.72 25.26 19.12 25.42 28.39 29.36 30.46
BELGIUM................... 5.76 11.74 8.21 17.85 25.68 20.13 26.55 30.01 30.79 31.85
CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - 2.53 3.01 4.72 5.45 6.04 6.77
DENMARK................... 6.23 10.83 8.03 18.29 25.02 21.43 29.63 33.68 34.45 35.45
FINLAND................... 5.06 8.61 8.30 20.84 22.60 17.84 24.35 27.80 28.38 29.90
FRANCE.................... 4.49 8.90 7.47 15.35 19.24 15.43 20.74 23.29 24.00 24.90
GERMANY................... - - - - 30.10 22.67 29.93 33.09 33.34 34.21
GREECE.................... 1.69 3.72 3.65 6.69 9.05 7.67 11.86 14.65 15.31 16.10
HUNGARY................... - - - - 2.69 2.74 4.79 5.68 6.13 6.29
IRELAND................... 3.51 6.44 6.22 12.11 14.14 13.28 19.79 22.67 24.15 25.96
ITALY..................... 4.64 8.09 7.56 17.68 16.53 14.47 20.29 23.57 24.23 25.07
LUXEMBOURG................ 6.21 11.48 7.43 15.90 23.45 17.41 22.83 26.18 27.26 27.74
NETHERLANDS............... 6.58 12.05 8.73 17.98 24.03 19.35 27.52 30.82 31.80 32.34
NORWAY.................... 6.90 11.80 10.47 21.76 24.84 22.56 32.73 36.41 39.17 41.05
POLAND.................... - - - - - 2.81 3.52 3.84 4.51 4.99
PORTUGAL.................. 1.53 1.99 1.48 3.61 5.14 4.49 6.18 6.96 7.27 7.65
SPAIN..................... 2.52 5.86 4.64 11.30 12.70 10.66 15.14 17.25 17.92 18.83
SWEDEN.................... 7.12 12.40 9.58 20.75 21.62 20.68 26.42 30.08 30.46 31.80
SWITZERLAND............... 6.03 10.96 9.55 20.63 28.89 20.95 27.79 30.21 30.50 30.67
UNITED KINGDOM............ 3.35 7.52 6.22 12.46 13.71 16.84 21.29 24.82 25.72 27.10
Trade-weighted measures
All 33 Foreign Economies
(2,3)................... 3.83 6.51 6.62 11.85 14.88 13.57 16.15 17.94 18.82 19.58
OECD (4).................. 4.14 7.01 7.08 12.62 15.87 14.62 17.59 19.59 20.55 21.35
Europe.................... 4.91 9.53 7.74 16.82 21.25 17.85 23.97 27.04 27.75 28.76
Euro Area (5)............. 5.04 9.70 7.84 17.30 22.70 18.04 24.55 27.57 28.24 29.21
Asian NIEs (6)............ 0.49 1.16 1.62 3.71 6.64 7.08 7.50 8.05 8.91 9.93
Dash means data not available.
(1) Average of selected manufacturing industries.
(2) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(3) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly
comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(4) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have
adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(6) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-18-
Table 3. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in
U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic
groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Country or area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2004 2005 2006
2006(1) 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 4.5 9.3 5.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.3 2.9 2.9 .1
BRAZIL.................... - - - - - - 5.8 14.6 32.5 17.8
CANADA.................... 4.7 7.7 4.8 7.8 .2 .0 7.7 11.5 9.8 7.3
MEXICO.................... 2.1 8.5 -6.3 -.2 1.5 4.0 4.9 .0 8.1 4.3
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 5.1 8.6 -.6 9.9 3.3 -1.3 10.4 18.1 7.4 4.1
HONG KONG SAR (2)......... 6.8 14.8 2.8 13.2 8.3 2.6 1.0 -.6 2.6 2.4
ISRAEL.................... 6.2 11.0 1.4 16.1 4.1 3.9 2.2 3.4 2.7 5.2
JAPAN..................... 6.4 13.0 2.8 14.9 13.3 -1.3 -1.4 8.0 -1.8 -6.2
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 13.1 24.3 5.2 24.6 14.6 2.4 10.2 11.5 17.8 15.5
NEW ZEALAND............... 4.9 10.7 -3.5 13.3 4.1 -4.1 9.5 16.8 9.7 -3.3
PHILIPPINES............... - - - - - -4.1 5.8 6.7 9.5 16.2
SINGAPORE................. 7.8 12.9 10.6 8.2 15.1 -.9 2.7 3.3 -2.3 17.1
SRI LANKA................. 2.2 -5.0 5.2 4.7 6.4 .0 - 1.9 4.7 -
TAIWAN.................... 9.5 21.8 8.0 21.0 8.9 .7 .6 4.9 7.5 .2
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 6.4 14.5 -3.1 18.5 7.4 -5.4 8.1 11.7 3.4 3.8
BELGIUM................... 5.7 15.3 -6.9 16.8 7.5 -4.8 8.0 13.1 2.6 3.5
CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - - 3.5 14.5 15.4 10.8 12.2
DENMARK................... 5.8 11.7 -5.8 17.9 6.5 -3.0 8.7 13.7 2.3 2.9
FINLAND................... 5.9 11.2 -.7 20.2 1.6 -4.6 9.0 14.2 2.1 5.4
FRANCE.................... 5.7 14.6 -3.4 15.5 4.6 -4.3 8.3 12.3 3.1 3.8
GERMANY................... - - - - - -5.5 7.1 10.6 .7 2.6
GREECE.................... 7.6 17.2 -.4 12.9 6.2 -3.3 13.2 23.5 4.5 5.2
HUNGARY................... - - - - - .4 14.8 18.7 7.8 2.7
IRELAND................... 6.7 12.9 -.7 14.2 3.1 -1.2 11.8 14.6 6.5 7.5
ITALY..................... 5.6 11.8 -1.3 18.5 -1.3 -2.6 9.6 16.1 2.8 3.5
LUXEMBOURG................ 4.9 13.1 -8.3 16.4 8.1 -5.8 8.1 14.7 4.1 1.7
NETHERLANDS............... 5.3 12.9 -6.2 15.6 6.0 -4.2 8.9 12.0 3.2 1.7
NORWAY.................... 5.9 11.3 -2.4 15.8 2.7 -1.9 10.5 11.2 7.6 4.8
POLAND.................... - - - - - - 10.0 9.3 17.3 10.5
PORTUGAL.................. 5.3 5.4 -5.8 19.6 7.3 -2.7 9.3 12.5 4.5 5.2
SPAIN..................... 6.7 18.4 -4.6 19.5 2.4 -3.4 10.0 14.0 3.9 5.1
SWEDEN.................... 4.9 11.8 -5.0 16.7 .8 -.9 7.4 13.8 1.3 4.4
SWITZERLAND............... 5.4 12.7 -2.7 16.7 7.0 -6.2 6.6 8.7 1.0 .6
UNITED KINGDOM............ 7.0 17.5 -3.7 14.9 1.9 4.2 8.2 16.6 3.6 5.3
Trade-weighted measures
All 33 Foreign Economies
(3,4)................... 5.6 12.1 .2 11.6 4.9 -.2 6.0 9.2 6.4 4.7
OECD (5).................. 5.4 11.7 -.4 11.2 4.4 -.3 6.5 9.7 6.0 4.2
Europe.................... 6.0 14.3 -3.9 16.6 4.5 -2.7 8.5 13.2 2.9 3.9
Euro Area (6)............. 5.9 13.9 -4.0 17.0 5.1 -4.2 8.6 12.6 2.7 3.6
Asian NIEs (7)............ 10.2 20.2 6.7 19.0 12.2 1.3 4.7 6.5 9.0 9.5
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) 1975-2005 for Sri Lanka.
(2) Average of selected manufacturing industries.
(3) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(4) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly
comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(6) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have
adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(7) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-19-
Table 4. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in
national currency in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic
groups, selected years, 1975-2006
Country or area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2004 2005 2006
2006(1) 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 4.5 9.3 5.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.3 2.9 2.9 .1
BRAZIL.................... - - - - - - 8.8 9.0 10.3 5.2
CANADA.................... 5.1 10.8 8.1 4.5 3.5 1.6 3.0 3.6 2.2 .4
MEXICO.................... 27.0 22.5 51.8 61.1 19.7 12.4 7.4 4.6 4.3 4.5
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 7.0 11.6 9.6 7.5 4.3 3.6 5.8 4.6 3.7 5.4
HONG KONG SAR (2)......... 8.4 14.9 12.5 13.2 8.2 2.7 .9 -.6 2.4 2.2
ISRAEL.................... 41.3 68.3 200.9 29.2 12.8 10.4 3.7 1.8 2.9 4.5
JAPAN..................... 3.2 7.0 3.9 4.1 3.8 1.4 -.1 .8 -.1 -.9
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 15.6 30.0 13.1 19.6 16.5 10.6 7.1 7.1 5.4 7.7
NEW ZEALAND............... 7.0 15.7 10.4 9.2 2.1 3.1 3.3 2.3 3.4 4.9
PHILIPPINES............... - - - - - 6.9 8.4 10.3 7.7 8.1
SINGAPORE................. 6.4 10.6 11.2 4.1 9.6 3.0 1.3 .2 -3.8 11.7
SRI LANKA................. 11.7 12.7 16.2 13.1 11.7 8.5 - 6.8 3.9 -
TAIWAN.................... 9.0 20.5 10.2 11.8 8.5 4.1 1.3 1.8 3.5 1.4
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 4.8 7.9 6.4 5.1 4.9 2.3 2.7 1.7 3.3 2.8
BELGIUM................... 5.2 10.1 7.3 4.1 4.9 3.0 2.6 2.9 2.5 2.5
CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - - 11.6 4.7 5.2 3.3 5.8
DENMARK................... 5.9 11.3 6.9 5.9 4.4 4.4 3.3 3.5 2.4 2.0
FINLAND................... 6.8 11.5 9.9 9.2 4.4 3.0 3.5 3.9 2.0 4.4
FRANCE.................... 6.4 14.3 12.3 4.5 2.8 2.7 2.9 2.2 3.0 2.8
GERMANY................... - - - - - 2.2 1.7 .6 .7 1.7
GREECE.................... 15.2 23.9 26.0 16.0 14.6 6.0 7.7 12.4 4.4 4.2
HUNGARY................... - - - - - 18.1 9.3 7.3 6.2 8.2
IRELAND................... 7.8 14.7 13.3 4.6 3.8 5.1 6.2 4.3 6.4 6.5
ITALY..................... 8.6 18.0 15.8 8.0 4.9 2.4 4.1 5.7 2.7 2.5
LUXEMBOURG................ 4.5 8.0 5.6 3.8 5.4 1.9 2.7 4.4 4.0 .8
NETHERLANDS............... 4.0 7.6 3.9 2.5 3.3 3.7 3.5 1.9 3.1 .7
NORWAY.................... 6.6 10.1 9.1 8.6 3.0 4.8 4.8 5.9 2.8 4.3
POLAND.................... - - - - - - 4.0 2.8 3.8 6.0
PORTUGAL.................. 11.8 20.7 20.5 15.2 8.4 4.8 3.8 2.4 4.4 4.2
SPAIN..................... 9.6 23.8 13.4 7.9 6.5 3.9 4.5 3.7 3.8 4.2
SWEDEN.................... 6.9 12.2 9.5 8.3 4.7 4.2 3.6 3.5 3.0 3.0
SWITZERLAND............... 3.0 3.3 5.0 4.1 3.5 .7 1.4 .5 1.2 1.1
UNITED KINGDOM............ 7.6 16.5 8.2 7.8 4.5 5.0 4.8 4.0 4.3 4.0
Trade-weighted measures
All 33 Foreign Economies
(3,4)................... 10.0 14.9 18.4 15.4 7.6 4.7 3.7 3.3 2.8 2.6
OECD (5).................. 9.7 13.9 15.8 15.8 7.5 4.6 3.8 3.3 2.7 2.3
Europe.................... 6.1 12.2 8.8 5.7 4.5 3.5 3.4 2.8 2.9 2.9
Euro Area (6)............. 5.9 11.8 9.1 5.2 4.5 3.0 3.2 2.5 2.6 2.7
Asian NIEs (7)............ 11.0 21.6 11.8 13.6 11.8 6.2 3.5 3.2 2.7 5.8
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) 1975-2005 for Sri Lanka.
(2) Average of selected manufacturing industries.
(3) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(4) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly
comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(6) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have
adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(7) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. -20-
Table 5. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. dollars
per national currency unit), 34 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1975-2006
Country or area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2004 2005 2006
2006(1) 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. - - - - - - - - - -
BRAZIL.................... - - - - - - -2.8 5.1 20.2 12.0
CANADA.................... -.4 -2.7 -3.1 3.2 -3.2 -1.6 4.6 7.6 7.4 6.9
MEXICO.................... -19.6 -11.5 -38.3 -38.0 -15.2 -7.5 -2.4 -4.4 3.7 -.2
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. -1.8 -2.7 -9.3 2.2 -1.0 -4.7 4.4 12.9 3.6 -1.2
HONG KONG SAR (2)......... -1.5 -.1 -8.6 .0 .1 -.1 .1 .0 .1 .1
ISRAEL.................... -24.8 -34.1 -66.3 -10.2 -7.7 -5.9 -1.5 1.6 -.1 .7
JAPAN..................... 3.1 5.6 -1.1 10.5 9.1 -2.7 -1.3 7.1 -1.7 -5.3
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ -2.2 -4.4 -6.9 4.2 -1.7 -7.4 2.9 4.1 11.8 7.3
NEW ZEALAND............... -2.0 -4.3 -12.6 3.7 1.9 -7.0 6.0 14.2 6.1 -7.9
PHILIPPINES............... - - - - - -10.3 -2.4 -3.3 1.7 7.5
SINGAPORE................. 1.3 2.1 -.5 3.9 5.1 -3.9 1.4 3.1 1.6 4.8
SRI LANKA................. -8.5 -15.7 -9.5 -7.5 -4.8 -7.8 - -4.6 .7 -
TAIWAN.................... .5 1.1 -2.0 8.2 .3 -3.2 -.7 3.1 3.9 -1.2
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 1.5 6.1 -9.0 12.8 2.4 -7.5 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
BELGIUM................... .4 4.7 -13.2 12.2 2.5 -7.6 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - - -7.2 9.3 9.8 7.3 6.0
DENMARK................... -.1 .4 -11.9 11.4 2.0 -7.1 5.3 9.8 -.1 .9
FINLAND................... -.8 -.3 -9.7 10.1 -2.6 -7.4 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
FRANCE.................... -.6 .3 -14.0 10.5 1.8 -6.8 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
GERMANY................... - - - - - -7.5 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
GREECE.................... -6.6 -5.4 -21.0 -2.7 -7.3 -8.7 5.1 9.9 .1 .9
HUNGARY................... - - - - - -14.9 5.0 10.7 1.6 -5.1
IRELAND................... -1.1 -1.5 -12.3 9.2 -.7 -6.1 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
ITALY..................... -2.7 -5.3 -14.8 9.8 -6.0 -4.9 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
LUXEMBOURG................ .4 4.7 -13.2 12.2 2.5 -7.6 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
NETHERLANDS............... 1.2 4.9 -9.8 12.7 2.6 -7.6 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
NORWAY.................... -.7 1.1 -10.5 6.6 -.3 -6.4 5.4 5.0 4.6 .5
POLAND.................... - - - - - - 5.8 6.3 13.0 4.3
PORTUGAL.................. -5.8 -12.7 -21.9 3.8 -1.0 -7.1 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
SPAIN..................... -2.7 -4.3 -15.9 10.8 -3.9 -7.1 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
SWEDEN.................... -1.8 -.4 -13.2 7.8 -3.7 -4.9 3.7 10.0 -1.6 1.3
SWITZERLAND............... 2.4 9.0 -7.4 12.0 3.3 -6.9 5.1 8.2 -.2 -.6
UNITED KINGDOM............ -.6 .9 -11.0 6.6 -2.4 -.8 3.3 12.1 -.6 1.3
Trade-weighted measures
All 33 Foreign Economies
(3,4)................... -3.4 -2.0 -12.4 -.4 -2.2 -4.6 2.2 5.7 3.5 2.0
OECD (5).................. -3.4 -1.7 -12.2 -.7 -2.5 -4.6 2.6 6.2 3.2 1.9
Europe.................... -.2 2.0 -11.6 10.4 .1 -5.9 4.9 10.1 .1 .9
Euro Area (6)............. -.1 2.0 -11.8 11.3 .6 -7.0 5.3 9.9 .1 .9
Asian NIEs (7)............ -.6 -1.0 -4.5 4.8 .4 -4.5 1.2 3.1 6.0 3.4
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) 1975-2005 for Sri Lanka.
(2) Average of selected manufacturing industries.
(3) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(4) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly
comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(6) Euro Area referes to European Union member countries in this release that have
adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(7) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-21-
Table 6. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in national currency units in manufacturing
and exchange rates, 34 countries or areas, 2006
Country or area Compensation costs Exchange Rates
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 23.82 1.000
BRAZIL.................... 10.66 2.174
CANADA.................... 29.19 1.134
MEXICO.................... 30.01 10.91
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 34.69 1.327
HONG KONG SAR (1)......... 44.92 7.768
ISRAEL.................... 57.86 4.457
JAPAN..................... 2350 116.3
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 14049 954.3
NEW ZEALAND............... 22.28 1.540
PHILIPPINES............... 54.90 51.25
SINGAPORE................. 13.57 1.588
SRI LANKA................. - -
TAIWAN.................... 209.2 32.51
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 24.25 .7960
BELGIUM................... 25.35 .7960
CZECH REPUBLIC............ 153.1 22.60
DENMARK................... 210.6 5.942
FINLAND................... 23.80 .7960
FRANCE.................... 19.82 .7960
GERMANY................... 27.23 .7960
GREECE.................... 12.82 .7960
HUNGARY................... 1324 210.4
IRELAND................... 20.66 .7960
ITALY..................... 19.96 .7960
LUXEMBOURG................ 22.08 .7960
NETHERLANDS............... 25.74 .7960
NORWAY.................... 263.2 6.410
POLAND.................... 15.47 3.103
PORTUGAL.................. 6.09 .7960
SPAIN..................... 14.99 .7960
SWEDEN.................... 234.4 7.372
SWITZERLAND............... 38.43 1.253
UNITED KINGDOM............ 14.69 .5420
Dash means data not available.
(1) Average of selected manufacturing industries.
National currency units are: United States, dollar; Brazil, real;
Canada, dollar; Mexico, peso; Australia, dollar; Hong Kong SAR, dollar;
Israel, new shekel; Japan, yen; Republic of Korea, won; New Zealand, dollar;
Philippines, peso; Singapore, dollar; Sri Lanka, rupee; Taiwan, dollar;
Austria, euro; Belgium, euro; Czech Republic, koruna; Denmark, krone;
Finland, euro; France, euro; Germany, euro; Greece, euro; Hungary, forint;
Ireland, euro; Italy, euro; Luxembourg, euro; Netherlands, euro; Norway, krone;
Poland, zloty; Portugal, euro; Spain, euro; Sweden, krona; Switzerland, franc;
United Kingdom, pound.
Note: For data for all years 1975-2006, see the supplementary tables to this
news release at http://www.bls.gov/fls.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-22-
Table 7. ALL EMPLOYEES: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, 32
countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006
Country or area 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
ARGENTINA................. 33 34 33 11 15 18 22
BRAZIL.................... 32 29 17 11 13 17 20
CANADA.................... 85 78 75 69 83 89 98
MEXICO.................... 10 10 12 13 12 12 13
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 89 77 69 66 95 98 102
ISRAEL.................... 51 53 52 46 46 46 49
JAPAN..................... 109 90 103 81 89 86 82
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 42 28 38 37 43 49 57
NEW ZEALAND............... 57 45 38 37 52 56 54
PHILIPPINES............... 6 4 4 4 4 4 5
SINGAPORE................. 53 49 47 44 45 44 46
TAIWAN.................... 31 27 30 25 25 26 27
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 135 114 93 92 118 119 124
BELGIUM................... 124 107 90 91 116 118 123
CZECH REPUBLIC............ 15 15 14 17 22 24 -
DENMARK................... - 107 92 95 122 124 129
FINLAND................... 112 94 81 84 111 112 119
FRANCE.................... 126 109 88 85 109 110 114
GERMANY................... - 125 108 107 137 135 139
HUNGARY................... 15 15 14 19 26 27 28
IRELAND................... 75 70 62 68 97 99 105
ITALY..................... 95 84 67 68 93 93 97
NETHERLANDS............... - 103 85 89 118 117 119
NORWAY.................... - 116 102 116 142 149 156
POLAND.................... - 15 14 15 17 19 21
PORTUGAL.................. 30 28 23 23 30 30 32
SLOVAKIA.................. - 13 11 12 18 20 22
SPAIN..................... 70 61 51 52 70 70 74
SWEDEN.................... 116 103 89 85 112 110 116
SWITZERLAND............... 147 122 99 102 122 120 121
UNITED KINGDOM............ 77 90 87 86 106 108 114
Trade-weighted measures
All 31 Foreign Economies
(1,2)................... 70 68 65 60 73 75 78
OECD (3).................. 75 72 69 65 79 81 85
Europe.................... 99 100 86 87 112 112 116
Euro Area (4)............. 104 103 87 88 114 114 118
Asian NIEs (5)............ 41 32 37 35 37 40 44
Dash means data not available.
(1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable
with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-23-
Table 8. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing,
32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006
Country or area 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 22.13 23.14 24.64 27.03 28.98 29.75 29.60
ARGENTINA................. 7.32 7.87 8.05 2.98 4.47 5.45 6.57
BRAZIL.................... 7.13 6.69 4.31 3.07 3.81 5.01 5.90
CANADA.................... 18.91 17.97 18.57 18.65 24.03 26.57 29.00
MEXICO.................... 2.32 2.37 2.89 3.44 3.33 3.57 3.72
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 19.75 17.71 17.01 17.88 27.43 29.18 30.10
ISRAEL.................... 11.35 12.21 12.77 12.34 13.43 13.80 14.37
JAPAN..................... 24.05 20.92 25.42 21.86 25.68 25.68 24.40
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 9.37 6.49 9.43 10.05 12.39 14.60 16.87
NEW ZEALAND............... 12.58 10.43 9.31 10.11 15.17 16.64 16.08
PHILIPPINES............... 1.27 0.91 0.97 1.00 1.07 1.17 1.36
SINGAPORE................. 11.78 11.39 11.58 11.97 13.11 13.14 13.55
TAIWAN.................... 6.91 6.31 7.35 6.84 7.26 7.87 7.95
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 29.86 26.48 23.01 24.78 34.05 35.27 36.70
BELGIUM................... 27.48 24.67 22.30 24.53 33.56 35.01 36.35
CZECH REPUBLIC............ 3.40 3.52 3.37 4.57 6.52 7.24 -
DENMARK................... - 24.75 22.55 25.60 35.39 36.77 38.21
FINLAND................... 24.74 21.78 20.03 22.60 32.15 33.36 35.26
FRANCE.................... 27.93 25.11 21.66 23.08 31.67 32.59 33.73
GERMANY................... - 28.98 26.56 28.95 39.67 40.05 41.04
HUNGARY................... 3.39 3.44 3.54 5.04 7.49 8.15 8.39
IRELAND................... 16.68 16.29 15.30 18.44 28.02 29.53 30.99
ITALY..................... 20.93 19.32 16.57 18.43 26.99 27.75 28.71
NETHERLANDS............... - 23.78 21.04 24.12 34.06 34.76 35.34
NORWAY.................... - 26.90 25.04 31.32 41.16 44.28 46.31
POLAND.................... - 3.50 3.40 4.06 4.80 5.66 6.26
PORTUGAL.................. 6.65 6.49 5.60 6.28 8.68 9.07 9.54
SLOVAKIA.................. - 2.91 2.61 3.25 5.21 5.82 6.53
SPAIN..................... 15.58 14.21 12.48 14.11 20.19 20.97 22.05
SWEDEN.................... 25.61 23.74 21.82 22.90 32.59 32.70 34.21
SWITZERLAND............... 32.55 28.18 24.42 27.71 35.21 35.56 35.68
UNITED KINGDOM............ 17.13 20.87 21.38 23.15 30.86 32.26 33.71
Trade-weighted measures
All 31 Foreign Economies
(1,2)................... 15.46 15.72 16.02 16.34 21.14 22.27 23.24
OECD (3).................. 16.51 16.71 17.05 17.49 22.79 23.99 25.03
Europe.................... 21.84 23.16 21.21 23.41 32.35 33.24 34.31
Euro Area (4)............. 22.92 23.90 21.44 23.70 33.16 33.97 35.04
Asian NIEs (5)............ 9.04 7.48 9.17 9.36 10.78 11.98 13.09
Dash means data not available.
(1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable
with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-24-
Table 9. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in U.S.
dollars in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2006
Country or area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2003 2004 2005 2006
2006 2000 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 3.0 2.7 3.1 4.3 2.8 2.7 -.5
ARGENTINA................. -1.1 2.4 -3.3 21.6 23.1 22.1 20.6
BRAZIL.................... -1.9 -11.8 5.4 5.0 18.2 31.6 17.8
CANADA.................... 4.4 -.4 7.7 15.1 12.0 10.6 9.1
MEXICO.................... 4.8 5.7 4.3 -2.2 -.8 7.2 4.1
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 4.3 -3.7 10.0 29.2 18.7 6.4 3.2
ISRAEL.................... 2.4 3.0 2.0 6.0 2.7 2.8 4.1
JAPAN..................... .1 1.4 -.7 9.0 7.8 .0 -5.0
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 6.1 .2 10.2 10.5 11.5 17.8 15.5
NEW ZEALAND............... 2.5 -7.2 9.5 28.5 16.8 9.7 -3.3
PHILIPPINES............... .7 -6.4 5.8 .4 6.7 9.5 16.2
SINGAPORE................. 1.4 -.4 2.6 5.9 3.5 .2 3.1
TAIWAN.................... 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.5 4.6 8.5 .9
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 2.1 -6.3 8.1 23.1 11.6 3.6 4.1
BELGIUM................... 2.8 -5.1 8.5 21.7 12.4 4.3 3.8
CZECH REPUBLIC............ 8.7 -.2 - 22.5 16.4 11.0 -
DENMARK................... - - 9.2 24.6 10.9 3.9 3.9
FINLAND................... 3.6 -5.1 9.9 23.8 14.9 3.8 5.7
FRANCE.................... 1.9 -6.2 7.7 22.5 12.0 2.9 3.5
GERMANY................... - - 7.5 23.2 11.2 1.0 2.5
HUNGARY................... 9.5 1.1 15.5 24.5 19.5 8.8 2.9
IRELAND................... 6.4 -2.1 12.5 29.2 17.6 5.4 4.9
ITALY..................... 3.2 -5.7 9.6 26.1 16.1 2.8 3.5
NETHERLANDS............... - - 9.0 25.5 12.5 2.0 1.7
NORWAY.................... - - 10.8 18.1 11.3 7.6 4.6
POLAND.................... - - 10.7 7.5 9.9 18.0 10.5
PORTUGAL.................. 3.7 -4.2 9.3 22.8 12.5 4.5 5.2
SLOVAKIA.................. - - 16.5 35.0 18.6 11.9 12.2
SPAIN..................... 3.5 -5.4 10.0 25.6 14.0 3.9 5.1
SWEDEN.................... 2.9 -3.9 7.8 25.5 13.4 .3 4.6
SWITZERLAND............... .9 -6.9 6.5 16.9 8.7 1.0 .3
UNITED KINGDOM............ 7.0 5.7 7.9 14.9 16.0 4.6 4.5
Trade-weighted measures
All 31 Foreign Economies
(1,2)................... 3.5 .2 6.0 12.6 9.5 6.9 5.0
OECD (3).................. 3.9 .5 6.5 13.7 9.7 6.4 4.7
Europe.................... 4.2 -2.3 8.6 22.4 13.4 3.1 3.5
Euro Area (4)............. 3.4 -5.0 8.8 24.3 13.1 2.6 3.3
Asian NIEs (5)............ 3.5 .5 5.5 6.4 7.4 10.9 7.9
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable
with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-25-
Table 10. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in national
currency in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2006
Country or area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2003 2004 2005 2006
2006 2000 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 3.0 2.7 3.1 4.3 2.8 2.7 -.5
ARGENTINA................. 10.6 2.4 16.5 15.2 24.0 21.3 26.8
BRAZIL.................... 6.0 2.4 8.5 10.5 12.4 9.5 5.2
CANADA.................... 2.5 1.7 3.0 2.7 4.1 2.9 2.1
MEXICO.................... 8.7 11.6 6.8 9.2 3.8 3.4 4.2
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 4.7 3.8 5.3 7.7 5.2 2.7 4.4
ISRAEL.................... 5.9 9.5 3.5 1.9 1.1 2.9 3.4
JAPAN..................... .8 1.2 .6 .9 .7 1.7 .4
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 7.9 9.1 7.1 5.4 7.1 5.4 7.7
NEW ZEALAND............... 3.1 2.7 3.3 2.5 2.3 3.4 4.9
PHILIPPINES............... 7.7 6.7 8.4 5.5 10.3 7.7 8.1
SINGAPORE................. 2.6 4.7 1.2 2.9 .4 -1.3 -1.6
TAIWAN.................... 3.1 4.9 2.0 1.1 1.4 4.5 2.1
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 2.4 2.1 2.7 2.8 1.6 3.5 3.1
BELGIUM................... 3.2 3.4 3.1 1.6 2.3 4.2 2.9
CZECH REPUBLIC............ 7.2 9.0 - 5.5 6.0 3.5 -
DENMARK................... - - 3.7 3.9 1.0 4.0 3.0
FINLAND................... 3.9 3.2 4.4 3.3 4.6 3.7 4.7
FRANCE.................... 2.1 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.0 2.8 2.6
GERMANY................... - - 2.1 2.9 1.2 .9 1.5
HUNGARY................... 13.0 17.9 9.9 8.3 8.0 7.2 8.5
IRELAND................... 6.4 5.8 6.9 7.9 7.0 5.3 4.0
ITALY..................... 3.2 1.8 4.1 5.3 5.7 2.7 2.5
NETHERLANDS............... - - 3.6 4.8 2.4 2.0 .7
NORWAY.................... - - 5.1 4.7 5.9 2.8 4.1
POLAND.................... - - 4.6 2.5 3.3 4.4 6.0
PORTUGAL.................. 4.0 4.4 3.8 2.5 2.4 4.4 4.2
SLOVAKIA.................. - - 8.3 9.5 4.1 7.6 7.1
SPAIN..................... 4.0 3.3 4.5 4.9 3.7 3.8 4.2
SWEDEN.................... 3.9 3.9 3.9 4.3 3.1 2.0 3.2
SWITZERLAND............... 1.1 .6 1.3 1.0 .5 1.2 .9
UNITED KINGDOM............ 5.2 6.5 4.4 5.5 3.5 5.2 3.1
Trade-weighted measures
All 31 Foreign Economies
(1,2)................... 4.3 4.7 3.9 4.3 3.6 3.2 2.8
OECD (3).................. 4.2 4.7 3.8 4.3 3.4 3.0 2.7
Europe.................... 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.0 3.0 3.0 2.5
Euro Area (4)............. 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.8 2.9 2.6 2.3
Asian NIEs (5)............ 5.1 6.7 4.1 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.8
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable
with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-26-
Table 11. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. dollars per
national currency unit), 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2006
Country or area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2003 2004 2005 2006
2006 2000 2006
Americas
UNITED STATES............. - - - - - - -
ARGENTINA................. -10.6 .0 -17.0 5.6 -.8 .7 -4.9
BRAZIL.................... -7.4 -13.9 -2.8 -5.0 5.1 20.2 12.0
CANADA.................... 1.9 -2.1 4.6 12.1 7.6 7.4 6.9
MEXICO.................... -3.6 -5.3 -2.4 -10.4 -4.4 3.7 -.2
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. -.4 -7.2 4.4 20.0 12.9 3.6 -1.2
ISRAEL.................... -3.3 -5.9 -1.5 4.0 1.6 -.1 .7
JAPAN..................... -.7 .2 -1.3 8.0 7.1 -1.7 -5.3
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ -1.7 -8.2 2.9 4.9 4.1 11.8 7.3
NEW ZEALAND............... -.6 -9.7 6.0 25.3 14.2 6.1 -7.9
PHILIPPINES............... -6.5 -12.3 -2.4 -4.8 -3.3 1.7 7.5
SINGAPORE................. -1.2 -4.9 1.4 2.9 3.0 1.6 4.8
TAIWAN.................... -1.7 -3.2 -.7 .4 3.1 3.9 -1.2
Europe
AUSTRIA................... -.3 -8.2 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
BELGIUM................... -.4 -8.2 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
CZECH REPUBLIC............ 1.4 -8.4 - 16.1 9.8 7.3 -
DENMARK................... - - 5.3 19.9 9.8 -.1 .9
FINLAND................... -.3 -8.1 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
FRANCE.................... -.2 -7.9 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
GERMANY................... - - 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
HUNGARY................... -3.2 -14.2 5.0 15.0 10.7 1.6 -5.1
IRELAND................... .0 -7.5 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
ITALY..................... .0 -7.4 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
NETHERLANDS............... - - 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
NORWAY.................... - - 5.4 12.7 5.1 4.6 .5
POLAND.................... - - 5.8 4.9 6.3 13.0 4.3
PORTUGAL.................. -.3 -8.2 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
SLOVAKIA.................. - - 7.6 23.3 14.0 4.0 4.8
SPAIN..................... -.4 -8.4 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
SWEDEN.................... -.9 -7.5 3.7 20.3 10.0 -1.6 1.3
SWITZERLAND............... -.1 -7.5 5.1 15.8 8.2 -.2 -.6
UNITED KINGDOM............ 1.7 -.7 3.3 8.9 12.1 -.6 1.3
Trade-weighted measures
All 31 Foreign Economies
(1,2)................... -.7 -4.2 2.1 8.2 5.8 3.5 2.0
OECD (3).................. -.3 -3.9 2.6 9.2 6.2 3.2 1.8
Europe.................... .2 -6.1 4.9 17.7 10.1 .1 .9
Euro Area (4)............. -.2 -7.8 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9
Asian NIEs (5)............ -1.6 -5.8 1.3 2.9 3.5 6.9 3.9
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical
Notes preceding these tables.
(2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable
with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage
of the two series differs slightly.
(3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001.
(5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.
-27-
Table 12. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in national currency units in manufacturing and
exchange rates, 32 countries or areas, 2006
Country or area Compensation costs Exchange Rates
Americas
UNITED STATES............. 29.60 1.000
ARGENTINA................. 20.08 3.054
BRAZIL.................... 12.83 2.174
CANADA.................... 32.88 1.134
MEXICO.................... 40.58 10.91
Asia and Oceania
AUSTRALIA................. 39.94 1.327
ISRAEL.................... 64.04 4.457
JAPAN..................... 2838 116.3
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 16097 954.3
NEW ZEALAND............... 24.77 1.540
PHILIPPINES............... 69.81 51.25
SINGAPORE................. 21.52 1.588
TAIWAN.................... 258.4 32.51
Europe
AUSTRIA................... 29.21 .7960
BELGIUM................... 28.93 .7960
CZECH REPUBLIC............ - -
DENMARK................... 227.0 5.942
FINLAND................... 28.07 .7960
FRANCE.................... 26.85 .7960
GERMANY................... 32.67 .7960
HUNGARY................... 1765 210.4
IRELAND................... 24.67 .7960
ITALY..................... 22.86 .7960
NETHERLANDS............... 28.13 .7960
NORWAY.................... 296.8 6.410
POLAND.................... 19.42 3.103
PORTUGAL.................. 7.59 .7960
SLOVAKIA.................. 193.5 29.61
SPAIN..................... 17.55 .7960
SWEDEN.................... 252.2 7.372
SWITZERLAND............... 44.71 1.253
UNITED KINGDOM............ 18.27 .5420
Dash means data not available.
National currency units are: United States, dollar; Argentina, pesos;
Brazil, real; Canada, dollar; Mexico, peso; Australia, dollar;
Israel, new shekel; Japan, yen; Republic of Korea, won; New Zealand, dollar;
Philippines, peso; Singapore, dollar; Taiwan, dollar; Austria, euro;
Belgium, euro; Czech Republic, koruna; Denmark, krone; Finland, euro;
France, euro; Germany, euro; Hungary, forint; Ireland, euro; Italy, euro;
Netherlands, euro; Norway, krone; Poland, zloty; Portugal, euro; Slovakia, koruna;
Spain, euro; Sweden, krona; Switzerland, franc; United Kingdom, pound.
Note: For data for all years 1975-2006, see the supplementary tables to this
news release at http://www.bls.gov/fls.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.