Full text of 1995 : Text File, USDL: 96-284
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Table 1. Output per hour in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 3. Output in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 4. Total hours in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 5. Employment in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 6. Average annual hours in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 7. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 8. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 9. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 10. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 11. Exchange rates, 12 countries, 1950-1995 (Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar)
Table 12. Average annual compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 13. Real hourly compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 14. Real average annual compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
Table 15. Korea: Output and unit labor costs, all employees in manufacturing, 1970-1995
Table 16. Taiwan: Output and unit labor costs, all employees in manufacturing, 1970-1995
Technical information USDL: 96-284
(202) 606-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact Wednesday, July 17, 1996
(202) 606-5902
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY
AND UNIT LABOR COST TRENDS, 1995
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today
reported on 1995 developments in manufacturing labor productivity (output
per hour) and unit labor costs in the United States and other industrial
economies.
U.S. manufacturing productivity increased 3.4 percent in 1995. Among
the eight foreign economies for which data are available, only Italy and
Japan had higher rates of productivity growth than the United States,
although several countries matched or nearly matched the U.S. rate. Only
one of the economies - the United Kingdom - had no productivity increase in
1995. (See table A and chart 1.)
The growth of productivity in the United States was based upon an
output increase of 3.5 percent combined with virtually no growth in labor
input. Germany (former West Germany) and Japan were the only countries to
increase productivity by combining decreases in labor input with increases
in output.
***AT THIS POINT, PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART 1. PERCENT CHANGE IN
MANUFACTURING OUTPUT PER HOUR, 1995.
Unit labor costs equal compensation in nominal terms divided by real
output. The cost of labor input required to produce one unit of output is
reflected in this measure. Unit labor costs in the United States declined
0.6 percent in 1995, the third consecutive year in which unit labor costs
have fallen. Six of the 11 foreign economies for which unit labor cost data
are available also had decreases in unit labor costs in 1995, with the
largest drop in Taiwan, about 3 percent.
Unit labor costs also can be derived by dividing compensation per hour
by output per hour. An increase in productivity thus mitigates an increase
in compensation per hour. This occurs because an increase in productivity
represents a decrease in the amount of labor input needed to produce a unit
of output. For the United States, the productivity gain of 3.4 percent more
than offset an increase in hourly compensation of 2.8 percent.
In order to make changes in unit labor costs more relevant for
discussing international competitiveness, foreign countries' costs can be
converted to U.S. dollars, as in chart 2. Then, relative currency values
play a role in comparative unit labor costs.
- 2 -
Several European currencies appreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar
in 1995, driving up those countries' rates of increase of unit labor costs
measured in U.S. dollars. Currency values in Denmark, France, Germany, and
Norway all increased by more than 10 percent relative to the dollar.
Although each of these countries had either small increases or small
declines in unit labor costs measured on a national currency basis, the rise
in currency values pushed U.S. dollar-based unit labor cost increases in
these countries to 10 percent or higher. The three economies with
currencies that did not appreciate against the U.S. dollar - Canada, Italy,
and Taiwan - were also the only three foreign economies with declining unit
labor costs measured on a U.S. dollar basis.
***AT THIS POINT, PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART 2. PERCENT CHANGE IN
MANUFACTURING UNIT LABOR COSTS (U.S. DOLLAR BASIS), 1995.
The 1995 measures of percent changes in manufacturing productivity,
unit labor costs, and related variables are summarized in table A below.
Output and unit labor cost measures are included for all 12 economies for
which 1995 data are available. Comparable productivity figures for Korea and
Taiwan are not available. Productivity data for Denmark are not shown
because recent data on hours worked have not been produced by the Danish
national statistical agency. (See technical note.)
Table A. Manufacturing productivity and labor costs in 12 countries or areas
Percent change, 1994-95
Output Hourly Unit labor costs Ex-
Country per Employ- Average compen- National U.S. change
or area hour Output Hours ment hours sation currency dollars rate
(1)
U.S. 3.4 3.5 0.1 0.8 -0.7 2.8 -0.6 -0.6 ---
Canada 1.6 4.5 2.9 2.5 .4 1.2 - .4 - .8 - .4
Japan 5.4 3.2 -2.1 -2.8 .7 3.2 -2.1 6.5 8.7
Korea(2) NA 10.7 NA NA NA NA -1.2 3.0 4.2
Taiwan(2) NA 6.8 NA NA NA NA -2.8 -2.9 - .1
Denmark(3) NA 3.2 NA 3.4 NA NA 3.6 17.6 13.5
France 3.0 3.2 .2 .1 .2 1.6 -1.3 9.8 11.2
Germany(4) 3.2 .5 -2.7 -2.2 -.5 5.1 1.8 15.3 13.2
Italy 4.0 5.8 1.7 -1.4 3.1 3.1 - .9 -2.0 -1.1
Norway .9 2.9 2.0 2.5 -.5 4.3 3.4 15.1 11.4
Sweden 3.4 9.4 5.8 4.1 1.7 5.4 2.0 10.2 8.1
U.K. .0 1.9 1.9 1.2 .7 3.3 3.3 6.4 3.0
(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 and 1995 by the Danish
national statistical agency.
(4) Data relate to the former West Germany.
NA=Not Available.
- 3 -
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 shows average annual percent changes for selected periods from
1979 for 14 economies - the 12 economies in table A plus Belgium and the
Netherlands. Indexes of the measures for the United States, Canada, Japan,
and the European countries are in tables 1-14; output and unit labor cost
indexes for Korea and Taiwan are in tables 15 and 16.
Prior to this release, the output series for the United States in this
comparative data set was the same series BLS published, along with data for
the business sector, in its news releases on quarterly measures of U.S.
productivity and costs. The concept underlying the quarterly series of U.S.
manufacturing output was changed in February 1996. The U.S. output series
used in this release of international comparisons now differs from the new
output series published with the quarterly U.S. measures. In addition, the
U.S. indexes in this release for measures based on output are not currently
available prior to 1977. For a further discussion of these issues, see the
technical notes on pages 11-14.
Productivity, output, and labor input
The year 1995 marked the first time in 10 years that manufacturing
output increased in all 12 of the economies included in table A. Increases
ranged from just 1/2 of 1 percent in Germany to 9-1/2 percent in Sweden and
10-1/2 percent in Korea. An increase of 3.5 percent placed the United
States in about the middle of the group.
Labor input (as measured by total hours worked) was nearly flat in U.S.
manufacturing in 1995. Several other economies, however, recorded larger
increases in labor input. The biggest rise occurred in Sweden, where hours
worked increased nearly 6 percent following a 5 percent increase the
previous year. Hours worked declined in only two countries - Japan and
Germany.
Unchanging labor input coupled with rising output resulted in a U.S.
productivity increase of 3.4 percent in 1995, a growth rate exceeded only by
Italy and Japan. While output grew more slowly in Germany than in the
United States, Germany nearly matched U.S. productivity growth because of
reduced labor input in Germany. Growth in output per hour in Sweden equaled
the U.S. rate: Sweden combined the highest rate of output growth with the
highest rate of labor input growth for all the countries for which
productivity was measured. For the first time since 1980, manufacturing
productivity did not increase in the United Kingdom.
- 4 -
Hourly compensation and unit labor costs
Hourly compensation costs in manufacturing - which include wages and
salaries, supplements, and employer payments for social security and other
employer-financed benefit plans - rose 2.8 percent in the United States in
1995. Except for Canada and France, hourly compensation increased in the
other economies at higher rates than in the United States.
With hourly compensation costs rising at a slower rate than
productivity, unit labor costs in the United States declined slightly in
1995, down 0.6 percent from their 1994 level. Unit labor costs also
declined in Canada, France, Italy, Japan, and Korea, while the biggest drop,
3 percent, occurred in Taiwan (footnote 1). Denmark, Norway, and the United
Kingdom had the largest unit labor cost increases, at about 3-1/2 percent each.
Unit labor costs in U.S. dollars
The currencies of all the European economies studied, except the
Italian lira, appreciated against the U.S. dollar in 1995, several of them
rather sharply. Except for the lira and the British pound, the European
currencies were up by 8 percent or more. The Korean won and the Japanese
yen also appreciated, while currencies in Canada and Taiwan depreciated
slightly against the dollar.
Changes in currency values relative to the U.S. dollar have an
important effect on changes in competitiveness as measured by U.S. dollar-
based unit labor costs. Among all the foreign economies, only the three
with currencies that declined in value relative to the U.S. dollar - Canada,
Italy, and
Taiwan - had decreases in dollar-based unit labor costs. Unit labor costs on
a U.S. dollar basis rose in the remaining economies, with increases of more
than 15 percent in Denmark, Germany, and Norway.
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.)
----------------
footnote 1: As noted above, unit labor cost measures for 1995 are compiled
for Denmark, Korea, and Taiwan in addition to the nine countries for which
productivity and hourly compensation measures are computed.
- 5 -
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 allows the growth rate of U.S. unit labor costs to be related
to the growth rate of foreign competitors' costs. For example, 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. Each year after 1985,
U.S. costs either rose at a slower rate than the competitors' costs or fell
at a faster rate - the only exception being in 1989.
***AT THIS POINT, PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART 3. U.S. MANUFACTURING UNIT
LABOR COSTS RELATIVE TO 11 COMPETITORS, 1979-95.
U.S. relative unit labor costs on a national currency basis tended to
fall fairly consistently at an average rate of slightly less than 1 percent
per year between 1979 and 1995. Rising unit labor costs relative to Japan
offset, to some extent, declining unit labor costs relative to Europe and
Canada through 1991. Since that year, unit labor costs relative to both
Japan and Europe generally have fallen, but relative to Canada have risen
slightly.
A very different pattern emerges when U.S. relative unit labor costs
are adjusted for currency exchange rates. Between 1979 and 1985, the U.S.
dollar appreciated 35 percent on a trade-weighted basis, and U.S. relative
unit labor costs rose about the same amount. Thus, given virtually no
change in relative unit labor costs up to 1985 on a national currency basis
(the dashed line), the relative change on a U.S. dollar basis is due
entirely to appreciation of the dollar.
Since the 1985 peak, the U.S. dollar has fallen 37 percent. Combined
with the decline in relative unit labor costs on a national currency basis,
U.S. relative unit labor costs on a U.S. dollar basis dropped 44 percent
between 1985 and 1995, improving U.S. competitiveness. The most dramatic
movement during this period occurred between 1985 and 1988, when the U.S.
dollar depreciated 32 percent and U.S. relative unit labor costs on a U.S.
dollar basis fell 36 percent. Between 1988 and 1995, the trade-weighted
value of the dollar generally declined, as did U.S. relative unit labor
costs, but at a much slower rate than during the 1985-88 period.
Because 1995 data are not available for Belgium and the Netherlands,
they have been excluded from this analysis; however, these two countries
account for only about 4 percent of the total trade in manufactured goods
between the 13 foreign economies and the United States. The trade weights
used in chart 3 are included in the section "Trade-Weighted Measures" in the
technical notes on pages 11-14.
TECHNICAL NOTES ARE PRESENTED ON PAGES 11-14
- 6 -
Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures: Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-95
Average annual rates of change (1)
Country 1979-95 1979-85 1985-90 1990-95 1992 1993 1994 1995
or area
Output per hour
U.S. 2.6 2.0 2.7 3.2 2.1 3.6 4.4 3.4
Canada 1.7 2.4 .4 2.3 3.9 1.8 3.7 1.6
Japan 3.4 3.5 4.3 2.2 .6 .5 .7 5.4
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium NA 5.1 2.2 NA 1.3 4.2 5.7 NA
Denmark NA 2.1 .1 NA 2.2 6.4 NA NA
France 3.1 3.0 3.4 2.8 1.3 1.8 8.5 3.0
Germany(2) 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.7 -1.7 1.2 7.1 3.2
Italy 3.8 4.9 2.6 3.7 4.9 4.5 2.3 4.0
Nethlds. NA 4.4 1.9 NA .4 1.9 7.3 NA
Norway 1.9 2.9 1.4 1.3 3.9 .4 1.8 .9
Sweden 3.2 3.0 1.7 4.7 5.3 6.7 8.4 3.4
U.K. 4.3 4.4 4.6 4.0 5.9 5.4 3.8 .0
Continued on next page
- 7 -
Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures: Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-95--continued
Average annual rates of change (1)
Country 1979-95 1979-85 1985-90 1990-95 1992 1993 1994 1995
or area
Output
U.S. 2.1 .7 2.8 3.0 1.5 5.0 6.9 3.5
Canada 1.7 1.5 1.5 2.0 1.3 4.8 7.0 4.5
Japan 3.3 4.7 4.8 .3 -1.4 -4.0 -1.3 3.2
Korea 9.9 8.8 13.2 8.0 5.1 5.0 10.4 10.7
Taiwan 6.8 8.1 7.0 5.0 3.2 2.5 5.7 6.8
Belgium NA 1.6 2.5 NA - .0 -2.9 4.5 NA
Denmark 1.3 2.9 - .5 1.3 .9 .7 2.1 3.2
France .7 - .4 2.6 .2 -1.7 -3.8 5.3 3.2
Germany(2) .5 .2 2.3 - .9 -2.7 -8.0 2.3 .5
Italy 2.3 1.7 4.0 1.3 .3 -3.4 5.0 5.8
Nethlds. NA 1.8 3.1 NA - .6 -2.2 3.8 NA
Norway .4 1.0 -1.8 2.1 3.1 2.4 5.4 2.9
Sweden 2.0 2.2 1.2 2.7 -3.4 1.3 13.8 9.4
U.K. .7 -1.2 3.4 .2 - .6 1.2 4.3 1.9
Total hours
U.S. - .5 -1.2 .0 - .2 - .6 1.4 2.4 .1
Canada - .1 - .9 1.1 - .3 -2.5 2.9 3.1 2.9
Japan .0 1.1 .5 -1.9 -2.0 -4.4 -2.0 -2.1
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium NA -3.3 .2 NA -1.3 -6.8 -1.1 NA
Denmark NA .8 - .6 NA -1.3 -5.3 NA NA
France -2.3 -3.3 - .8 -2.5 -2.9 -5.5 -2.9 .2
Germany(2) -1.7 -1.8 .3 -3.5 -1.1 -9.1 -4.5 -2.7
Italy -1.5 -3.1 1.3 -2.3 -4.4 -7.6 2.6 1.7
Nethlds. NA -2.5 1.2 NA -1.0 -4.1 -3.3 NA
Norway -1.5 -1.9 -3.1 .8 - .8 2.1 3.6 2.0
Sweden -1.1 - .8 - .5 -2.0 -8.3 -5.0 4.9 5.8
U.K. -3.5 -5.3 -1.2 -3.6 -6.2 -4.0 .4 1.9
Continued on next page
- 8 -
Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures: Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-95--continued
Average annual rates of change (1)
Country 1979-95 1979-85 1985-90 1990-95 1992 1993 1994 1995
or area
Employment
U.S. -0.8 -1.4 -0.1 -0.6 -1.7 0.1 1.3 0.8
Canada - .3 - .8 1.1 -1.0 -3.5 1.4 2.1 2.5
Japan .5 1.2 .8 - .5 1.1 -2.1 -2.0 -2.8
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium NA -2.7 - .4 NA -1.3 -5.4 -3.7 NA
Denmark .1 1.0 - .1 - .9 -1.6 -4.6 .6 3.4
France -1.9 -2.3 - .9 -2.5 -3.3 -4.7 -2.8 .1
Germany(2) - .9 -1.1 1.1 -2.7 -1.7 -6.0 -5.1 -2.2
Italy -1.9 -2.9 .3 -2.8 -4.3 -5.7 - .2 -1.4
Nethlds. NA -2.3 1.4 NA - .8 -4.1 -3.3 NA
Norway -1.5 -1.8 -2.9 .4 -1.9 1.8 3.2 2.5
Sweden -1.8 -1.2 - .8 -3.5 -9.0 -7.4 1.9 4.1
U.K. -3.3 -4.9 -1.2 -3.5 -6.3 -3.6 - .3 1.2
Average hours
U.S. 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.4 1.2 1.3 1.1 -0.7
Canada .2 - .1 .0 .7 1.1 1.6 1.0 .4
Japan - .5 .0 - .3 -1.4 -3.1 -2.3 .0 .7
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium NA - .6 .7 NA - .0 -1.5 2.7 NA
Denmark NA - .3 - .5 NA .3 - .8 NA NA
France - .4 -1.0 .1 .0 .4 - .8 - .2 .2
Germany(2) - .8 - .7 - .9 - .8 .7 -3.4 .6 - .5
Italy .4 - .1 1.0 .5 - .1 -2.0 2.8 3.1
Nethlds. NA - .3 - .2 NA - .2 .0 .0 NA
Norway .0 - .1 - .3 .3 1.1 .3 .3 - .5
Sweden .7 .4 .3 1.6 .8 2.6 2.9 1.7
U.K. - .2 - .5 .0 - .1 .1 - .4 .7 .7
Continued on next page
- 9 -
Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures: Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-95--continued
Average annual rates of change (1)
Country 1979-95 1979-85 1985-90 1990-95 1992 1993 1994 1995
or area
Hourly compensation(3): National currency basis
U.S. 5.0 7.1 3.9 3.5 4.5 2.4 2.7 2.8
Canada 5.3 8.7 4.1 2.6 3.0 .1 2.3 1.2
Japan 4.4 4.7 4.6 4.0 4.3 4.6 2.2 3.2
Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Belgium NA 7.8 3.9 NA 5.0 5.0 3.3 NA
Denmark NA 8.1 5.4 NA 3.9 2.4 NA NA
France 7.1 12.7 4.5 3.3 3.8 3.6 2.5 1.6
Germany(2) 5.5 5.9 4.9 5.5 5.3 6.0 4.2 5.1
Italy 10.0 16.7 6.9 5.5 7.4 7.1 - .6 3.1
Nethlds. NA 4.9 2.1 NA 5.2 4.6 1.4 NA
Norway 7.3 10.0 8.1 3.4 2.6 1.5 3.3 4.3
Sweden 7.5 9.6 8.4 4.1 4.5 -2.2 4.1 5.4
U.K. 8.9 11.8 8.4 5.8 7.0 5.3 2.0 3.3
Unit labor costs: National currency basis
U.S. 2.3 5.1 1.1 0.3 2.4 -1.2 -1.7 -0.6
Canada 3.5 6.1 3.7 .3 - .9 -1.7 -1.3 - .4
Japan 1.0 1.2 .3 1.7 3.6 4.1 1.5 -2.1
Korea 5.8 9.2 6.0 1.7 1.0 -1.8 5.9 -1.2
Taiwan 4.1 7.3 3.5 1.0 4.5 .9 1.1 -2.8
Belgium NA 2.5 1.6 NA 3.6 .7 -2.3 NA
Denmark 4.1 5.9 5.2 1.0 1.7 -3.7 1.5 3.6
France 3.9 9.5 1.0 .5 2.5 1.8 -5.5 -1.3
Germany(2) 3.1 3.8 2.8 2.7 7.1 4.7 -2.8 1.8
Italy 6.0 11.2 4.2 1.7 2.4 2.5 -2.9 - .9
Nethlds. NA .5 .2 NA 4.8 2.6 -5.5 NA
Norway 5.3 6.9 6.6 2.1 -1.3 1.1 1.5 3.4
Sweden 4.2 6.4 6.6 - .6 - .7 -8.3 -4.0 2.0
U.K. 4.3 7.1 3.6 1.8 1.1 - .1 -1.8 3.3
Continued on next page
- 10 -
Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures: Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-95--continued
Average annual rates of change (1)
Country 1979-95 1979-85 1985-90 1990-95 1992 1993 1994 1995
or area
Unit labor costs: U.S. dollar basis
U.S. 2.3 5.1 1.1 0.3 2.4 -1.2 -1.7 -0.6
Canada 2.5 3.4 7.1 -2.9 -6.0 -7.9 -6.8 - .8
Japan 6.5 - .3 10.8 10.9 10.0 18.8 10.3 6.5
Korea 2.8 - .9 10.5 .0 -5.1 -4.5 5.8 3.0
Taiwan 6.1 5.5 12.0 1.3 11.2 -3.9 .9 -2.9
Belgium NA -8.8 13.9 NA 10.2 -6.4 1.1 NA
Denmark 3.7 -5.8 17.2 3.0 7.9 -10.4 3.6 17.6
France 2.9 -3.4 11.6 2.3 9.4 -4.9 -3.5 9.8
Germany(2) 4.8 -4.1 15.9 5.2 13.9 -1.1 - .8 15.3
Italy 1.6 -3.2 14.3 -4.3 3.1 -19.7 -5.2 -2.0
Nethlds. NA -7.6 12.9 NA 11.6 -2.9 -3.4 NA
Norway 3.8 -2.1 13.6 1.9 3.1 -11.5 2.2 15.1
Sweden .9 -5.3 14.8 -4.3 3.1 -31.5 -3.0 10.2
U.K. 2.4 -1.3 10.5 - .7 1.0 -15.0 .2 6.4
Exchange rates (4)
U.S. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Canada -1.0 -2.5 3.2 -3.2 -5.2 -6.3 -5.6 - .4
Japan 5.4 -1.5 10.5 9.1 6.2 14.1 8.7 8.7
Korea -2.9 -9.3 4.2 -1.7 -6.1 -2.7 - .1 4.2
Taiwan 1.9 -1.7 8.2 .3 6.4 -4.8 - .2 - .1
Belgium .0 -11.1 12.2 2.5 6.4 -7.0 3.5 13.4
Denmark - .4 -11.0 11.4 2.0 6.1 -6.9 2.0 13.5
France -1.0 -11.7 10.5 1.8 6.7 -6.6 2.2 11.2
Germany(2) 1.6 -7.6 12.7 2.5 6.4 -5.6 2.0 13.2
Italy -4.1 -12.9 9.8 -6.0 .7 -21.7 -2.4 -1.1
Nethlds. 1.4 -8.0 12.7 2.6 6.4 -5.4 2.2 13.4
Norway -1.4 -8.4 6.6 - .3 4.5 -12.5 .6 11.4
Sweden -3.1 -11.0 7.8 -3.7 3.9 -25.3 1.0 8.1
U.K. -1.8 -7.9 6.6 -2.4 - .1 -15.0 2.0 3.0
(1) Rates of change based on (3) Adjusted to include employment taxes
the compound rate method. that are not compensation to employees
but are labor costs to employers.
(2) Data relate to the former
West Germany. (4) Value of foreign currency relative to
NA = Not available. the U.S. dollar.
- 11 -
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, and Sweden and
to all employees (wage and salary earners) in the other economies. Hours
refer to hours worked in all countries.
In general, the measures relate to total manufacturing as defined by the
International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). However, the
measures for France and Italy (beginning 1970) refer to mining and
manufacturing less energy-related products; the measures for Denmark include
mining and exclude manufacturing handicrafts from 1960 to 1966; and the
measures for the Netherlands exclude petroleum refining and include coal
mining from 1969 to 1976.
Output: In general, the output measures are value added in manufacturing in
constant prices from the national accounts of each country. However, output
for Japan prior to 1970 and for the Netherlands from 1969 to 1977 are
indexes of industrial production. The national accounts measures for the
United Kingdom are essentially identical to their indexes of industrial
production.
While methods of deriving national accounts measures differ from country to
country, BLS has reviewed these methods and determined that the series are
sufficiently comparable for measuring comparative trends in productivity and
unit labor costs.
The 1977-93 manufacturing output data for the United States in this release
are the gross product originating measures prepared by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Comparable
manufacturing output data currently are not available prior to 1977. The
1993-94 and 1994-95 percent changes in manufacturing output are based on the
trend shown by the industrial production index published by the U.S. Federal
Reserve Board for the manufacturing sector.
U.S. gross product originating represents value added in manufacturing. The
output series used for the foreign economies are also value added measures.
In addition, U.S. gross product originating is based upon a fixed-price-
weight scheme in which the price weights have not changed over the entire
1977-1995 time period. The Japanese value added series is based upon one
set of fixed price weights for the years 1970 through 1995. Output series
for the other foreign economies also employ fixed price weights, but the
weights are updated periodically (for example, every 5 or 10 years). The
only exception is the output series for Norway for 1987-1994, in which a
given year's output is weighted with the preceding year's prices. (The 1995
measures are currently based on 1993 prices.)
- 12 -
The U.S. manufacturing output series in this release differs from the
quarterly measure of U.S. manufacturing output currently published by BLS.
The manufacturing output series that BLS publishes in its news releases on
quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs was changed in February
1996. The U.S. output series used in this release of international
comparisons differs from the output series currently published with the
quarterly U.S. measures in two key ways. First, the quarterly U.S.
manufacturing series now is on a "sectoral" output basis rather than a value
added basis. Sectoral output is gross output less intra-sector
transactions. Second, the series published with the quarterly U.S. data now
is based on changing price weights rather than fixed weights.
To preserve the comparability of the U.S. measures with those for other
economies, BLS continues to use gross product originating in manufacturing
for the United States in this comparative data set. A review of the
preferred output concept for international comparative measures, as well as
of the availability of data for producing alternative output series, is
underway.
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, and Sweden 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 annual hours worked. For Germany, BLS uses estimates of
average hours worked developed by a research institute connected with the
Ministry of Labor for use with the national accounts employment figures.
For the other countries, BLS constructs its own estimates of average hours.
Denmark has not published estimates of average hours for 1994 and 1995 and,
therefore, the BLS measure of labor input for Denmark ends in 1993. For the
Republic of Korea and for Taiwan, BLS publishes only measures of unit labor
costs and the data on output and total compensation that underlie the
computations of unit labor costs. Total hours, and consequently
productivity, are not computed for Korea and Taiwan because BLS has not yet
developed adequate labor input series.
Compensation (labor cost): The compensation measures are from the national
accounts except those for Belgium, which are developed by BLS using
statistics on employment, average hours, and hourly compensation.
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 France and
Sweden, compensation is increased to account for other significant taxes on
payroll or employment. For the United Kingdom, compensation is reduced to
account for subsidies between 1967 and 1991. 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 used for the long-term measures become available.
- 13 -
Trade-Weighted Measures: The economies covered by the BLS measures differ
greatly in their relative importance to U.S. trade in manufactured products.
Therefore, BLS constructs trade-weighted measures that take account of these
differences. The weights used in this release for Canada, Japan, and the
European countries were obtained by rescaling a series of weights developed
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) based on average trade flows over
the 1989-1991 period. The IMF 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 IMF weights for 1989-
1991 do not include Korea and Taiwan. The weights for Korea and Taiwan are
developed by BLS using data from an earlier IMF study and other sources.
For the 11 foreign economies for which the 1995 unit labor cost measures are
available, the following weights were used for the entire time period for
which trade-weighted unit labor cost measures are produced:
Country Weight Country Weight
Canada 24.97 Norway 0.47
Japan 30.16 Sweden 1.87
Denmark 0.47 United Kingdom 8.87
France 5.82 Korea 5.66
Germany 11.45 Taiwan 5.72
Italy 4.54
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 are needed are
purchasing power parities (PPPs), 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.
PPPs are available for total gross domestic product (GDP) for the United
Nations' International Comparisons Project (UNICP). However, these PPPs are
derived for expenditures by consumers, business, and government for goods
and services and not for value added by industry. Therefore, they do not
provide PPPs by industry. The PPPs for total GDP are not suitable for each
component industry, such as manufacturing.
- 14 -
Some analysts have constructed "proxy PPPs" for manufacturing using selected
expenditure items from the UNICP. However, since the prices used are based
on consumer, business, and government final expenditures, they have a number
of shortcomings: They are based on final sales values rather than industry
value added or gross output; they include indirect taxes, distribution
margins, and transportation costs; they include the prices of imports and
exclude the prices of exports; and there are few prices for products, such
as steel, paper, and cement, which are outputs of the manufacturing sector,
but only intermediate inputs with respect to final expenditures.
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 (UVRs) based
on ratios of producers' sales values per unit of output for matched products
from country censuses of manufactures. This procedure also has
shortcomings, primarily because only a portion of manufactured products can
be matched and the matched products may not be adequately representative.
For many products, values are reported but not quantities; for some
products, there is no counterpoint in the other country; and other products
can not be matched because they represent a different mix of product
varieties or because of large differences in qualities. 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.
Table 1. Output per hour in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 27.9 NA NA 22.3 13.9 13.1 11.2 12.5 24.1 19.7 24.9
1955 NA 34.2 8.7 NA 24.3 17.6 19.6 15.6 15.6 28.1 21.6 26.9
1960 NA 40.5 14.0 18.7 29.5 23.0 29.0 19.6 19.9 36.2 27.6 30.5
1961 NA 42.7 15.8 18.9 31.2 24.5 30.5 21.2 20.9 37.5 29.0 30.5
1962 NA 45.7 16.6 19.9 32.8 26.1 32.6 23.4 21.6 37.4 31.2 31.2
1963 NA 47.4 18.0 20.7 33.9 27.5 34.0 24.1 22.3 39.4 33.1 32.9
1964 NA 49.6 20.4 22.0 36.6 29.7 36.9 24.3 24.3 41.6 35.9 35.0
1965 NA 52.0 21.2 23.1 38.4 31.8 39.2 27.1 25.8 44.1 38.6 36.1
1966 NA 53.1 23.3 24.7 40.4 34.4 40.8 29.4 27.5 46.0 40.3 37.3
1967 NA 54.2 26.3 26.1 43.3 36.5 43.3 30.9 29.4 47.6 43.7 39.0
1968 NA 58.1 29.5 28.4 47.3 40.3 46.9 33.3 32.9 50.5 47.7 41.8
1969 NA 61.2 33.8 31.0 49.2 42.9 50.2 34.5 36.0 55.3 51.5 42.8
1970 NA 60.4 38.0 34.2 52.1 45.5 51.9 36.8 39.6 57.0 52.8 43.7
1971 NA 64.7 40.2 36.3 55.6 48.2 53.9 37.4 41.7 59.2 55.1 45.8
1972 NA 67.8 44.1 40.4 60.1 50.4 57.2 40.5 45.4 62.7 57.8 48.4
1973 NA 72.2 48.1 44.7 66.1 53.9 60.9 43.9 50.4 66.6 62.1 51.9
1974 NA 73.3 49.3 47.1 68.3 55.1 63.1 46.7 54.6 69.6 64.7 52.8
1975 NA 70.8 50.7 49.0 75.2 57.0 65.7 45.2 53.4 68.8 65.7 51.6
1976 NA 75.8 53.8 54.0 78.0 60.5 70.5 51.4 59.4 70.9 66.8 53.9
1977 75.5 79.9 55.9 56.7 79.4 64.1 72.7 52.4 61.9 70.5 65.7 54.4
1978 75.5 80.8 58.1 60.1 80.6 67.0 75.1 55.8 66.1 71.7 67.5 55.1
1979 74.4 81.6 62.9 63.4 84.6 70.1 78.5 61.2 69.3 76.1 72.8 55.5
1980 72.8 78.5 63.9 62.1 89.2 70.5 77.1 64.0 70.0 75.2 74.0 54.9
1981 75.4 82.3 66.0 67.2 90.7 72.6 78.6 65.5 71.5 75.4 73.5 57.7
1982 78.4 78.6 68.7 71.5 91.0 77.7 78.2 66.6 72.8 78.0 76.6 60.9
1983 80.1 84.3 69.6 79.8 95.5 79.4 82.4 70.2 78.5 81.8 81.8 65.7
1984 81.1 91.4 71.9 84.0 95.0 80.7 85.2 77.1 86.3 87.6 85.6 69.2
1985 83.7 94.1 77.3 85.5 95.6 83.8 88.7 81.5 89.8 90.4 87.2 71.9
1986 85.9 92.6 76.9 86.7 90.0 85.2 89.3 82.6 91.2 89.5 88.6 74.7
1987 91.4 93.5 81.2 88.4 89.6 86.7 88.1 85.0 91.9 94.0 90.1 78.8
1988 93.5 93.9 84.8 91.4 92.9 92.7 91.2 86.6 93.9 93.2 90.8 83.1
1989 94.0 94.3 89.5 96.2 96.1 97.4 94.3 89.4 97.3 93.8 93.8 87.1
1990 95.7 95.8 95.4 95.6 96.0 99.1 98.2 92.8 98.6 96.8 95.0 90.1
1991 97.9 96.3 99.4 98.7 97.9 98.7 101.7 95.3 99.6 96.2 95.0 94.4
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
1993 103.6 101.8 100.5 104.2 106.4 101.8 101.2 104.5 101.9 100.4 106.7 105.4
1994 108.1 105.6 101.2 110.1 NA 110.4 108.5 106.9 109.4 102.2 115.7 109.4
1995 111.9 107.2 106.6 NA NA 113.7 112.0 111.2 NA 103.1 119.6 109.4
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 30.1 NA NA 31.4 17.0 19.2 12.3 16.3 31.7 25.6 29.3
1955 NA 35.7 10.4 NA 33.6 21.2 28.8 17.7 20.4 36.9 27.8 32.0
1960 NA 41.9 17.3 23.5 38.7 27.7 38.4 22.4 26.2 45.7 33.7 35.6
1961 NA 44.0 19.3 23.8 39.7 29.6 39.6 23.9 26.5 46.6 35.1 35.2
1962 NA 47.6 19.8 25.1 42.1 31.4 41.3 25.7 27.1 46.4 37.5 35.6
1963 NA 49.5 21.2 26.0 42.8 33.1 42.4 26.5 27.9 48.7 39.3 37.4
1964 NA 52.1 24.0 27.6 46.6 35.5 46.1 26.8 30.1 51.7 42.2 40.2
1965 NA 54.5 24.5 28.5 48.9 37.6 48.7 28.8 31.9 53.5 45.0 40.8
1966 NA 55.4 27.0 30.2 50.4 40.9 50.0 31.6 33.8 55.9 46.9 41.4
1967 NA 56.2 30.6 31.5 53.4 43.0 51.7 33.7 36.0 57.4 50.0 43.0
1968 NA 60.4 34.2 34.3 57.0 46.2 56.6 36.4 39.5 59.5 53.5 46.5
1969 NA 63.3 38.6 37.1 58.6 50.3 60.7 37.4 42.6 63.5 56.8 47.6
1970 NA 62.1 43.0 39.8 60.0 52.7 62.4 39.1 46.1 65.0 58.0 47.9
1971 NA 66.1 44.8 41.6 63.9 55.3 63.4 38.6 48.1 66.9 60.4 49.0
1972 NA 69.3 48.9 45.3 67.6 57.2 66.6 41.6 51.6 69.8 61.7 51.3
1973 NA 73.4 52.8 48.8 70.4 60.3 70.4 45.6 56.1 73.8 65.1 55.7
1974 NA 74.1 52.0 50.2 74.1 60.9 71.4 46.8 58.9 76.1 67.2 54.8
1975 NA 70.8 52.2 49.4 79.0 61.1 72.5 44.5 56.6 74.8 66.9 53.5
1976 NA 75.6 57.0 55.4 82.3 65.1 79.9 50.6 62.8 75.1 67.1 56.3
1977 74.1 80.0 59.4 57.9 83.1 68.3 81.1 51.4 65.2 73.5 65.6 57.2
1978 74.1 81.1 62.0 61.3 83.3 70.8 82.8 54.6 68.9 73.1 65.7 57.7
1979 72.6 81.2 67.5 64.7 87.4 73.9 86.1 59.4 71.4 76.2 69.7 57.9
1980 70.2 77.8 68.6 62.4 92.8 74.3 83.5 62.2 72.5 75.7 70.1 55.4
1981 72.7 80.7 70.3 65.9 93.1 75.5 84.1 63.7 74.5 76.0 70.0 57.4
1982 74.2 76.1 73.0 71.6 94.9 77.5 83.7 64.7 76.7 78.0 73.3 61.1
1983 77.9 82.7 74.0 77.9 100.9 79.0 87.9 68.2 82.8 82.0 79.2 66.1
1984 80.1 90.7 77.3 81.5 100.0 80.3 90.9 74.8 89.7 87.7 84.4 70.2
1985 82.6 93.3 82.8 84.2 97.3 82.9 93.1 78.4 91.0 90.2 85.3 72.9
1986 84.7 91.8 81.9 85.5 93.7 84.4 93.0 81.4 92.0 89.2 86.3 75.6
1987 90.7 93.4 86.7 87.9 91.1 86.5 91.3 85.3 92.2 91.4 89.0 80.3
1988 93.7 94.0 91.7 92.4 94.6 92.8 94.4 90.0 94.9 91.4 89.5 85.2
1989 94.2 93.8 95.6 96.7 96.7 97.3 96.2 92.8 97.8 92.5 92.1 89.1
1990 95.2 95.2 100.5 97.2 95.5 98.5 98.8 94.0 99.0 95.3 94.4 91.6
1991 96.8 95.2 102.5 98.7 97.6 98.3 101.0 95.4 99.8 95.2 94.2 94.3
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
1993 104.9 103.4 98.1 102.6 105.5 100.9 97.8 102.5 101.9 100.6 109.4 104.9
1994 110.8 108.3 98.9 111.4 107.1 109.3 105.5 107.7 109.4 102.8 122.1 109.8
1995 113.8 110.4 104.9 NA 106.9 112.8 108.3 115.5 NA 103.2 128.4 110.5
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 3. Output in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 22.6 2.2 NA 26.3 19.2 14.5 9.4 17.4 38.2 31.2 50.3
1955 NA 29.3 4.9 NA 28.9 24.0 27.5 14.6 23.8 46.8 36.1 59.2
1960 NA 34.2 10.7 32.2 40.1 32.4 41.5 21.5 32.8 56.6 46.4 68.4
1961 NA 35.6 12.8 33.6 42.3 34.8 44.0 23.7 34.0 58.9 49.6 68.5
1962 NA 39.7 13.9 36.2 45.9 37.3 46.2 26.2 35.7 59.4 53.4 68.7
1963 NA 42.3 15.5 37.9 46.5 40.2 47.1 27.9 37.2 62.9 56.0 71.1
1964 NA 46.5 18.0 41.4 52.0 43.9 51.2 28.3 40.7 67.4 61.0 77.6
1965 NA 51.2 18.7 42.7 55.4 46.0 55.0 29.7 43.5 70.9 65.2 79.8
1966 NA 54.5 21.2 45.2 56.5 50.3 55.9 32.4 45.9 75.2 67.1 81.2
1967 NA 55.8 25.4 45.8 57.1 52.7 54.7 35.7 47.7 77.6 69.2 81.8
1968 NA 59.5 29.3 49.0 61.5 55.6 60.3 39.0 52.2 79.5 72.8 87.5
1969 NA 63.7 34.1 54.7 64.9 62.3 67.4 41.5 57.2 85.3 78.5 90.9
1970 NA 61.0 38.8 60.3 66.8 66.9 70.9 44.8 61.8 89.2 81.6 91.2
1971 NA 64.8 40.7 63.0 68.2 71.1 71.6 45.5 63.3 92.4 82.1 90.2
1972 NA 70.1 44.4 67.8 74.0 74.5 73.8 48.0 65.6 96.8 82.6 92.1
1973 NA 77.6 50.0 74.0 78.1 80.1 78.5 54.1 70.2 102.3 88.5 100.6
1974 NA 79.9 48.7 76.9 79.3 81.7 77.7 57.6 73.3 107.4 93.2 99.4
1975 NA 74.6 46.2 71.1 77.4 80.0 74.1 54.3 67.9 105.1 93.6 92.6
1976 NA 80.0 50.2 76.5 81.1 84.7 79.8 62.4 72.5 105.3 93.6 94.3
1977 80.1 83.0 51.8 76.8 81.5 88.6 81.3 64.6 73.3 103.1 88.2 96.1
1978 83.5 86.7 53.3 77.8 81.2 90.7 82.8 67.8 75.5 100.7 85.8 96.6
1979 84.0 90.0 57.9 79.9 85.9 93.3 87.1 74.8 77.5 103.6 91.4 96.4
1980 78.4 85.9 59.9 75.4 89.7 92.7 85.3 78.7 77.6 102.6 91.7 88.1
1981 80.7 89.1 62.1 75.3 86.9 91.2 84.4 77.1 77.7 101.6 88.9 82.7
1982 76.9 77.6 64.1 78.8 88.3 92.1 81.5 75.9 76.7 100.9 89.7 82.6
1983 79.3 82.6 66.1 83.7 94.2 92.0 82.7 76.6 79.2 100.2 94.9 84.3
1984 85.5 93.3 70.4 86.6 98.6 90.9 85.2 80.0 83.7 105.9 101.8 87.4
1985 87.6 98.5 76.1 88.1 101.7 91.2 88.3 82.6 86.0 109.8 104.0 89.9
1986 88.5 99.3 74.9 88.1 101.7 91.2 89.7 84.8 88.1 109.8 105.3 91.1
1987 94.9 104.1 78.4 88.4 97.6 91.1 88.0 88.5 89.3 111.9 107.7 95.3
1988 99.9 109.4 84.6 92.8 99.1 96.3 90.9 94.8 92.7 106.5 110.2 102.0
1989 100.8 110.3 90.2 98.4 100.3 101.6 94.0 98.6 96.9 100.5 111.7 106.6
1990 100.4 106.2 96.3 99.6 99.3 103.5 99.1 100.4 100.1 100.4 110.6 106.4
1991 98.5 98.7 101.4 100.0 99.2 101.7 102.8 99.7 100.6 97.0 103.5 100.6
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
1993 105.0 104.8 96.0 97.1 100.7 96.2 92.0 96.6 97.8 102.4 101.3 101.2
1994 112.3 112.1 94.8 101.5 102.8 101.3 94.1 101.4 101.4 108.0 115.3 105.5
1995 116.2 117.2 97.8 NA 106.1 104.6 94.6 107.3 NA 111.1 126.1 107.6
NA: Not Available
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 4. Total hours in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 85.6 81.0 NA NA 118.1 138.6 110.3 84.2 138.9 158.4 158.5 202.0
1955 94.6 85.5 55.9 NA 119.2 136.4 140.2 93.3 152.0 166.6 167.3 220.0
1960 92.2 84.5 76.3 172.1 135.8 140.6 143.0 109.6 165.3 156.3 168.3 224.4
1961 89.8 83.3 80.8 177.4 135.5 142.0 144.5 111.8 162.3 157.2 171.0 224.5
1962 93.5 86.9 83.4 181.8 140.0 143.0 141.5 111.7 165.3 158.6 170.8 220.1
1963 94.5 89.3 86.1 183.4 137.3 146.1 138.5 115.9 166.5 159.7 169.1 216.4
1964 96.5 93.8 88.2 188.1 141.9 147.7 138.7 116.2 167.5 162.0 169.6 221.5
1965 102.1 98.6 88.0 184.8 144.1 145.0 140.5 109.7 168.4 160.8 168.8 221.3
1966 108.7 102.7 91.0 183.1 140.0 146.3 137.2 110.3 167.0 163.5 166.5 218.0
1967 108.1 103.0 96.3 175.1 132.0 144.2 126.3 115.4 162.1 162.9 158.4 209.6
1968 109.7 102.3 99.4 172.4 130.2 137.8 128.7 117.0 158.8 157.3 152.6 209.4
1969 111.0 104.0 100.9 176.4 131.9 145.1 134.3 120.2 159.2 154.3 152.5 212.3
1970 104.5 100.9 102.3 176.3 128.3 147.0 136.6 121.8 156.2 156.6 154.7 208.6
1971 100.6 100.2 101.1 173.8 122.6 147.6 132.8 121.6 151.9 156.0 149.1 196.8
1972 105.2 103.3 100.6 167.7 123.1 147.9 129.0 118.5 144.6 154.4 142.9 190.3
1973 110.5 107.5 104.0 165.7 118.1 148.7 128.9 123.4 139.4 153.5 142.5 194.0
1974 108.0 109.0 98.7 163.1 116.1 148.2 123.2 123.4 134.2 154.3 144.0 188.3
1975 97.3 105.3 91.1 145.0 103.0 140.3 112.8 120.3 127.2 152.8 142.3 179.2
1976 102.0 105.7 93.3 141.7 104.0 140.0 113.2 121.5 122.1 148.5 140.2 175.0
1977 106.2 103.8 92.5 135.4 102.6 138.2 111.9 123.2 118.3 146.3 134.2 176.7
1978 110.7 107.3 91.6 129.4 100.8 135.4 110.2 121.4 114.4 140.4 127.1 175.3
1979 112.8 110.3 92.0 126.0 101.5 133.0 111.0 122.4 111.8 136.2 125.5 173.6
1980 107.6 109.5 93.8 121.4 100.6 131.5 110.7 123.0 111.0 136.5 124.0 160.3
1981 107.1 108.3 94.1 112.1 95.8 125.7 107.4 117.8 108.7 134.7 120.9 143.1
1982 98.0 98.8 93.3 110.2 97.0 118.6 104.2 113.9 105.4 129.3 117.1 135.5
1983 99.0 98.1 95.0 104.9 98.6 115.8 100.4 109.1 100.8 122.5 116.1 128.3
1984 105.4 102.1 97.9 103.1 103.8 112.7 100.0 103.8 97.0 121.0 118.9 126.3
1985 104.7 104.8 98.4 103.0 106.5 108.9 99.6 101.4 95.8 121.5 119.3 125.1
1986 103.1 107.2 97.3 101.6 113.1 107.2 100.4 102.7 96.6 122.7 118.8 121.9
1987 103.9 111.4 96.6 100.0 109.0 105.1 99.9 104.1 97.2 119.0 119.5 120.9
1988 106.9 116.5 99.8 101.5 106.6 104.0 99.6 109.5 98.7 114.3 121.4 122.7
1989 107.3 117.0 100.8 102.3 104.3 104.4 99.7 110.2 99.6 107.1 119.0 122.3
1990 104.9 110.8 100.9 104.3 103.3 104.5 101.0 108.2 101.6 103.7 116.4 118.0
1991 100.6 102.5 102.0 101.3 101.3 103.0 101.1 104.6 101.0 100.8 109.0 106.6
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
1993 101.4 102.9 95.6 93.2 94.7 94.5 90.9 92.4 95.9 102.1 95.0 96.0
1994 103.8 106.2 93.7 92.2 NA 91.8 86.8 94.8 92.7 105.7 99.6 96.4
1995 103.9 109.3 91.7 NA NA 91.9 84.5 96.4 NA 107.8 105.4 98.3
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 5. Employment in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 84.4 74.9 NA NA 83.9 113.5 75.2 76.4 106.6 120.8 122.0 171.7
1955 93.1 82.0 47.1 NA 86.2 113.1 95.5 82.5 116.4 126.7 129.8 184.7
1960 92.6 81.6 61.7 136.8 103.5 116.6 108.1 95.9 125.3 123.7 137.9 192.2
1961 90.0 80.9 66.4 141.3 106.4 117.5 111.3 98.9 128.4 126.3 141.3 194.9
1962 92.9 83.4 70.0 144.5 109.1 118.7 111.8 102.0 131.7 127.8 142.2 193.1
1963 93.5 85.5 72.8 145.9 108.7 121.2 111.0 105.3 133.0 129.3 142.4 190.0
1964 94.9 89.4 75.0 150.1 111.4 123.5 111.0 105.6 135.1 130.4 144.4 193.0
1965 99.3 94.0 76.1 150.0 113.3 122.3 113.0 103.1 136.3 132.5 144.8 195.5
1966 105.4 98.5 78.3 149.8 112.2 122.9 111.8 102.5 135.9 134.4 143.0 196.0
1967 106.7 99.3 82.8 145.2 106.9 122.4 105.8 105.9 132.4 135.2 138.4 190.0
1968 108.5 98.5 85.7 142.8 108.0 120.3 106.6 107.3 132.1 133.7 136.0 188.2
1969 110.6 100.5 88.2 147.6 110.8 123.8 111.0 110.9 134.3 134.2 138.4 190.7
1970 106.3 98.2 90.3 151.5 111.3 127.0 113.6 114.6 134.2 137.3 140.6 190.4
1971 102.2 98.1 90.7 151.6 106.7 128.6 112.9 117.6 131.8 138.1 135.9 183.9
1972 105.0 101.1 90.8 149.7 109.5 130.1 110.8 115.4 127.2 138.6 133.8 179.6
1973 110.5 105.7 94.6 151.6 111.0 132.9 111.5 118.7 125.1 138.6 135.8 180.6
1974 110.1 107.9 93.7 153.3 107.0 134.3 108.9 123.1 124.3 141.2 138.7 181.3
1975 100.7 105.4 88.5 144.0 98.0 130.9 102.2 122.1 120.1 140.5 139.9 173.1
1976 104.3 105.9 88.0 138.1 98.5 130.2 99.9 123.3 115.4 140.1 139.4 167.5
1977 108.2 103.7 87.1 132.6 98.0 129.7 100.3 125.7 112.3 140.3 134.5 168.1
1978 112.7 107.0 85.9 127.0 97.5 128.2 100.0 124.1 109.7 137.8 130.7 167.4
1979 115.6 110.8 85.7 123.6 98.3 126.2 101.2 126.1 108.5 136.0 131.0 166.4
1980 111.6 110.5 87.4 120.9 96.7 124.7 102.2 126.4 107.0 135.6 130.9 159.0
1981 111.0 110.5 88.3 114.3 93.3 120.7 100.3 121.1 104.3 133.6 127.0 144.0
1982 103.5 101.9 87.9 110.0 93.1 118.8 97.4 117.3 100.1 129.4 122.4 135.1
1983 101.8 99.9 89.3 107.4 93.4 116.5 94.1 112.4 95.6 122.1 119.9 127.5
1984 106.8 102.9 91.1 106.2 98.6 113.1 93.7 106.9 93.3 120.8 120.5 124.6
1985 106.0 105.6 91.9 104.6 104.6 110.0 94.9 105.4 94.5 121.8 122.0 123.3
1986 104.5 108.1 91.4 103.1 108.5 108.1 96.4 104.1 95.8 123.0 122.0 120.4
1987 104.7 111.4 90.4 100.6 107.1 105.4 96.4 103.7 96.9 122.4 121.1 118.7
1988 106.6 116.3 92.4 100.4 104.7 103.9 96.3 105.3 97.7 116.6 123.2 119.8
1989 107.0 117.7 94.3 101.7 103.7 104.4 97.6 106.3 99.1 108.7 121.2 119.6
1990 105.5 111.6 95.8 102.5 104.0 105.1 100.3 106.8 101.1 105.4 117.2 116.2
1991 101.8 103.7 98.9 101.3 101.6 103.4 101.8 104.5 100.8 101.9 109.9 106.7
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
1993 100.1 101.4 97.9 94.6 95.4 95.3 94.0 94.3 95.9 101.8 92.6 96.4
1994 101.3 103.5 95.9 91.1 96.0 92.7 89.2 94.1 92.7 105.0 94.4 96.2
1995 102.2 106.1 93.2 NA 99.3 92.7 87.3 92.9 NA 107.7 98.2 97.3
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 6. Average annual hours in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 101.4 108.2 NA NA 140.7 122.1 146.6 110.2 130.3 131.1 129.9 117.7
1955 101.6 104.2 118.7 NA 138.2 120.7 146.8 113.0 130.6 131.5 128.9 119.1
1960 99.6 103.5 123.5 125.8 131.2 120.5 132.2 114.3 131.9 126.3 122.1 116.7
1961 99.7 103.0 121.6 125.5 127.3 120.9 129.8 113.1 126.5 124.4 121.0 115.2
1962 100.7 104.1 119.2 125.8 128.3 120.5 126.6 109.5 125.6 124.0 120.1 114.0
1963 101.0 104.5 118.2 125.7 126.3 120.5 124.7 110.0 125.2 123.4 118.8 113.9
1964 101.7 105.0 117.6 125.3 127.4 119.7 124.9 110.0 124.0 124.2 117.4 114.8
1965 102.8 104.9 115.6 123.2 127.2 118.6 124.3 106.4 123.6 121.4 116.6 113.2
1966 103.1 104.2 116.2 122.2 124.8 119.1 122.7 107.6 122.9 121.7 116.4 111.2
1967 101.3 103.7 116.3 120.7 123.4 117.8 119.4 109.1 122.4 120.5 114.5 110.4
1968 101.1 103.9 116.0 120.7 120.6 114.6 120.8 109.1 120.2 117.7 112.2 111.3
1969 100.3 103.5 114.4 119.5 119.1 117.2 120.9 108.3 118.5 114.9 110.2 111.3
1970 98.3 102.7 113.3 116.3 115.3 115.7 120.2 106.4 116.4 114.1 110.0 109.6
1971 98.5 102.2 111.4 114.6 114.9 114.8 117.6 103.4 115.3 112.9 109.7 107.0
1972 100.1 102.2 110.8 112.0 112.4 113.6 116.4 102.7 113.6 111.4 106.8 106.0
1973 100.0 101.7 109.9 109.3 106.4 111.9 115.6 103.9 111.4 110.7 104.9 107.4
1974 98.1 101.0 105.3 106.4 108.5 110.4 113.2 100.3 108.0 109.2 103.8 103.9
1975 96.7 99.9 103.0 100.7 105.1 107.1 110.4 98.5 106.0 108.8 101.7 103.6
1976 97.8 99.8 106.0 102.6 105.6 107.5 113.4 98.5 105.8 106.0 100.6 104.5
1977 98.2 100.1 106.2 102.1 104.6 106.5 111.5 98.0 105.3 104.3 99.8 105.2
1978 98.2 100.3 106.7 101.9 103.4 105.6 110.2 97.8 104.3 101.9 97.2 104.7
1979 97.6 99.5 107.3 101.9 103.3 105.4 109.7 97.1 103.1 100.1 95.8 104.3
1980 96.4 99.2 107.3 100.4 104.0 105.4 108.4 97.3 103.7 100.7 94.7 100.8
1981 96.4 98.0 106.5 98.1 102.7 104.1 107.1 97.3 104.2 100.8 95.2 99.4
1982 94.7 96.9 106.2 100.2 104.2 99.8 107.0 97.1 105.3 100.0 95.7 100.3
1983 97.3 98.2 106.4 97.7 105.6 99.4 106.6 97.1 105.4 100.3 96.8 100.6
1984 98.7 99.2 107.4 97.1 105.3 99.6 106.7 97.1 104.0 100.2 98.6 101.4
1985 98.8 99.2 107.1 98.5 101.8 99.0 105.0 96.2 101.3 99.8 97.8 101.4
1986 98.7 99.1 106.5 98.6 104.2 99.2 104.2 98.6 100.8 99.7 97.4 101.2
1987 99.2 99.9 106.8 99.4 101.8 99.8 103.6 100.4 100.3 97.2 98.7 101.9
1988 100.3 100.2 108.0 101.1 101.8 100.1 103.5 104.0 101.1 98.0 98.5 102.4
1989 100.2 99.5 106.8 100.6 100.6 99.9 102.1 103.7 100.5 98.6 98.2 102.3
1990 99.5 99.3 105.3 101.8 99.4 99.4 100.6 101.2 100.5 98.4 99.3 101.6
1991 98.8 98.9 103.2 100.0 99.7 99.6 99.3 100.1 100.2 98.9 99.2 99.9
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
1993 101.3 101.6 97.7 98.5 99.2 99.2 96.6 98.0 100.0 100.3 102.6 99.6
1994 102.4 102.6 97.7 101.2 NA 99.0 97.2 100.7 100.0 100.6 105.6 100.3
1995 101.7 103.0 98.4 NA NA 99.2 96.8 103.8 NA 100.1 107.3 101.0
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 7. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.7 5.7 NA NA 2.5 1.6 3.4 .8 3.2 2.2 1.9 1.6
1955 11.7 8.1 3.1 NA 3.4 2.9 5.0 1.2 4.6 3.3 3.0 2.3
1960 14.9 10.5 4.3 5.5 4.6 4.3 8.1 1.6 6.5 4.7 4.1 3.1
1961 15.3 10.8 5.0 5.9 5.1 4.8 9.1 1.7 7.5 5.1 4.5 3.3
1962 15.9 11.1 5.7 6.3 5.6 5.3 10.3 2.0 8.0 5.6 5.1 3.5
1963 16.4 11.6 6.4 7.0 6.1 5.8 11.0 2.4 8.8 6.0 5.6 3.7
1964 17.1 12.0 7.2 7.9 6.6 6.3 11.9 2.6 10.2 6.4 6.1 3.9
1965 17.5 12.7 8.1 8.7 7.3 6.8 13.1 2.8 11.4 7.1 6.7 4.3
1966 18.2 13.7 9.0 9.7 8.3 7.2 14.2 2.9 12.8 7.7 7.4 4.6
1967 19.2 14.6 10.0 10.5 9.3 7.7 15.0 3.2 14.1 8.6 8.2 4.8
1968 20.7 15.7 11.7 11.3 10.3 8.8 16.1 3.5 15.7 9.5 8.9 5.1
1969 22.2 17.0 13.8 12.4 11.6 9.3 17.6 3.8 17.8 10.5 9.7 5.6
1970 23.8 18.3 16.5 14.1 13.2 10.5 20.7 4.6 20.5 11.7 10.8 6.5
1971 25.3 19.7 19.0 16.1 15.2 11.8 23.2 5.3 23.4 13.3 12.2 7.5
1972 26.6 21.2 21.9 18.6 16.8 13.0 25.7 6.0 26.8 14.8 13.6 8.6
1973 28.6 22.9 26.8 21.6 20.4 14.9 29.0 7.0 31.9 16.7 15.2 9.8
1974 31.8 26.4 35.1 26.3 24.7 17.7 33.0 9.2 38.0 19.6 17.9 11.8
1975 35.7 30.2 40.9 31.8 29.4 21.6 36.4 11.6 43.5 23.5 22.0 15.7
1976 38.6 34.5 44.0 36.1 32.9 24.8 39.2 14.4 48.7 27.1 25.7 18.2
1977 42.0 38.2 48.6 40.3 36.3 28.2 42.9 17.1 52.9 30.5 28.1 20.6
1978 45.4 41.1 51.8 43.5 40.0 31.7 46.1 19.7 57.2 33.6 31.3 24.0
1979 49.8 45.3 55.1 47.3 44.7 35.9 49.5 23.8 61.5 35.4 33.8 28.5
1980 55.8 50.2 58.6 52.5 49.4 41.4 53.7 27.9 64.8 38.5 37.6 34.4
1981 61.3 57.7 62.7 58.2 54.4 47.9 57.1 33.8 67.4 42.8 41.5 39.9
1982 67.2 63.8 65.8 60.8 59.2 56.9 60.2 39.8 71.8 47.4 44.5 44.0
1983 69.0 67.7 67.6 64.4 63.3 62.8 63.2 46.6 75.0 52.3 49.0 47.2
1984 71.4 70.9 69.7 69.8 66.9 68.1 66.2 53.5 77.9 57.3 53.2 50.9
1985 75.3 74.6 72.5 74.1 71.4 73.8 70.0 60.1 82.0 62.7 58.6 55.8
1986 78.6 77.5 76.1 77.2 72.9 76.9 73.0 62.6 85.2 68.7 63.4 60.6
1987 80.8 79.8 77.9 79.0 79.7 79.7 76.4 66.1 87.9 78.5 67.6 67.3
1988 84.0 83.3 79.2 80.6 82.5 82.8 79.3 68.7 87.6 83.3 72.0 71.7
1989 86.7 86.4 84.2 84.8 87.2 87.2 83.1 75.5 88.4 87.2 79.6 75.4
1990 90.9 91.3 90.7 89.6 92.6 91.8 89.0 84.0 90.8 92.3 87.8 83.7
1991 95.7 97.1 95.9 95.3 96.2 96.3 95.0 93.1 95.0 97.5 95.7 93.4
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
1993 102.4 100.1 104.6 105.0 102.4 103.6 106.0 107.1 104.6 101.5 97.8 105.3
1994 105.1 102.4 106.8 108.4 NA 106.2 110.5 106.4 106.1 104.8 101.8 107.4
1995 108.0 103.7 110.3 NA NA 107.9 116.1 109.7 NA 109.4 107.3 110.9
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, 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, July 1996.
Table 8. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.7 6.3 NA NA 2.2 2.5 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.9 2.1 2.6
1955 11.7 10.0 1.1 NA 2.9 4.3 1.9 2.3 2.1 2.9 3.4 3.7
1960 14.9 13.1 1.5 3.6 4.0 4.7 3.0 3.1 3.0 4.1 4.7 5.0
1961 15.3 12.9 1.8 3.8 4.5 5.2 3.5 3.4 3.6 4.4 5.1 5.3
1962 15.9 12.6 2.0 4.1 4.9 5.7 4.0 4.1 3.9 4.9 5.7 5.6
1963 16.4 12.9 2.3 4.5 5.3 6.2 4.3 4.8 4.3 5.2 6.3 5.8
1964 17.1 13.5 2.5 5.1 5.8 6.8 4.7 5.1 5.0 5.6 6.9 6.2
1965 17.5 14.2 2.8 5.7 6.4 7.3 5.1 5.5 5.6 6.1 7.6 6.8
1966 18.2 15.4 3.1 6.2 7.3 7.8 5.6 5.8 6.2 6.7 8.3 7.3
1967 19.2 16.3 3.5 6.8 8.1 8.3 5.9 6.4 6.9 7.5 9.2 7.4
1968 20.7 17.6 4.1 7.3 8.3 9.4 6.3 6.8 7.6 8.3 10.0 6.9
1969 22.2 19.0 4.9 7.9 9.3 9.6 7.0 7.5 8.7 9.1 10.9 7.6
1970 23.8 21.2 5.8 9.1 10.6 10.1 8.9 9.1 10.0 10.1 12.2 8.8
1971 25.3 23.6 6.9 10.7 12.4 11.3 10.4 10.6 11.8 11.8 13.9 10.3
1972 26.6 25.8 9.2 13.6 14.6 13.7 12.6 12.6 14.7 14.0 16.7 12.2
1973 28.6 27.7 12.5 17.9 20.4 17.8 17.1 14.9 20.2 18.1 20.4 13.6
1974 31.8 32.6 15.3 21.7 24.5 19.4 20.0 17.4 24.9 22.1 23.6 15.7
1975 35.7 35.8 17.5 27.9 31.0 26.7 23.1 21.9 30.3 28.0 30.9 19.8
1976 38.6 42.3 18.8 30.1 32.8 27.5 24.3 21.4 32.4 30.9 34.4 18.6
1977 42.0 43.5 23.0 36.2 36.5 30.3 28.8 23.8 37.9 35.6 36.6 20.3
1978 45.4 43.6 31.5 44.4 43.9 37.3 35.9 28.5 46.6 39.9 40.4 26.1
1979 49.8 46.8 32.0 51.9 51.3 44.7 42.2 35.3 53.9 43.5 45.9 34.3
1980 55.8 51.8 32.9 57.8 53.0 51.9 46.2 40.3 57.4 48.5 51.8 45.3
1981 61.3 58.2 36.1 50.6 46.0 46.6 39.5 36.6 47.7 46.4 47.7 45.8
1982 67.2 62.5 33.5 42.7 42.8 45.8 38.7 36.2 47.3 45.6 41.2 43.5
1983 69.0 66.4 36.1 40.5 41.8 43.6 38.7 37.8 46.2 44.5 37.2 40.5
1984 71.4 66.1 37.2 38.8 39.0 41.3 36.3 37.5 42.7 43.7 37.5 38.6
1985 75.3 66.0 38.5 40.2 40.7 43.5 37.2 38.8 43.4 45.3 39.7 41.0
1986 78.6 67.4 57.3 55.6 54.3 58.8 52.5 51.7 61.2 57.7 51.8 50.3
1987 80.8 72.7 68.3 68.0 70.3 70.2 66.3 62.8 76.3 72.4 62.0 62.5
1988 84.0 81.8 78.4 70.4 73.9 73.5 70.5 65.0 77.9 79.3 68.3 72.3
1989 86.7 88.2 77.3 69.2 71.9 72.4 69.0 67.8 73.3 78.4 71.9 69.9
1990 90.9 94.5 79.3 86.2 90.4 89.3 86.0 86.3 87.6 91.7 86.4 84.5
1991 95.7 102.4 90.3 89.6 90.7 90.3 89.3 92.5 89.3 93.3 92.1 93.5
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
1993 102.4 93.7 119.3 97.6 95.3 96.8 100.1 83.9 98.9 88.8 73.1 89.5
1994 105.1 90.6 132.6 104.3 NA 101.4 106.4 81.4 102.6 92.3 76.8 93.1
1995 108.0 91.3 148.8 NA NA 114.6 126.6 83.0 NA 107.3 87.5 99.1
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, 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, July 1996.
Table 9. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 20.5 NA NA 11.1 11.8 25.6 7.4 25.4 9.0 9.5 6.6
1955 NA 23.8 36.1 NA 13.9 16.4 25.6 7.6 29.6 11.8 13.8 8.7
1960 NA 25.9 30.9 29.7 15.5 18.8 28.0 8.0 32.9 12.9 15.0 10.3
1961 NA 25.2 31.8 31.0 16.4 19.5 29.9 8.2 35.6 13.6 15.6 11.0
1962 NA 24.3 34.6 31.7 17.1 20.3 31.6 8.7 36.9 15.0 16.2 11.3
1963 NA 24.4 35.7 33.7 18.0 21.0 32.3 10.1 39.3 15.2 16.9 11.2
1964 NA 24.3 35.4 35.8 18.0 21.1 32.3 10.6 41.8 15.4 17.0 11.2
1965 NA 24.4 38.3 37.8 19.1 21.4 33.4 10.2 44.1 16.0 17.4 11.9
1966 NA 25.9 38.5 39.1 20.6 20.9 34.8 10.0 46.4 16.8 18.3 12.5
1967 NA 26.9 38.1 40.4 21.6 21.2 34.6 10.5 48.1 18.1 18.7 12.3
1968 NA 27.0 39.6 39.7 21.8 21.8 34.4 10.4 47.9 18.8 18.6 12.3
1969 NA 27.7 41.0 39.8 23.5 21.8 35.1 11.0 49.6 19.0 18.8 13.1
1970 NA 30.3 43.3 41.1 25.3 23.1 40.0 12.6 51.8 20.5 20.6 14.8
1971 NA 30.5 47.3 44.4 27.3 24.5 43.1 14.3 56.2 22.5 22.1 16.3
1972 NA 31.2 49.6 46.0 28.0 25.8 44.9 14.8 59.0 23.7 23.5 17.8
1973 NA 31.8 55.7 48.3 30.8 27.7 47.7 16.0 63.4 25.1 24.5 19.0
1974 NA 36.0 71.1 55.7 36.1 32.1 52.4 19.7 69.7 28.2 27.7 22.4
1975 NA 42.6 80.6 64.9 39.1 37.9 55.3 25.7 81.4 34.2 33.4 30.4
1976 NA 45.6 81.9 66.8 42.1 40.9 55.6 28.1 81.9 38.3 38.5 33.8
1977 55.7 47.8 86.8 71.1 45.7 43.9 59.0 32.6 85.4 43.2 42.8 37.9
1978 60.1 50.9 89.1 72.3 49.7 47.4 61.4 35.2 86.6 46.9 46.4 43.5
1979 66.9 55.5 87.5 74.6 52.9 51.2 63.1 39.0 88.7 46.5 46.4 51.4
1980 76.6 63.9 91.7 84.5 55.3 58.7 69.7 43.7 92.6 51.2 50.8 62.6
1981 81.3 70.1 95.1 86.7 60.0 66.1 72.7 51.6 94.3 56.8 56.4 69.2
1982 85.7 81.2 95.8 85.0 65.0 73.3 76.9 59.8 98.7 60.8 58.1 72.2
1983 86.2 80.3 97.2 80.7 66.3 79.1 76.7 66.4 95.5 63.9 59.9 71.9
1984 88.0 77.6 96.8 83.1 70.4 84.5 77.7 69.4 90.2 65.5 62.2 73.6
1985 89.9 79.3 93.8 86.7 74.7 88.1 79.0 73.8 91.3 69.4 67.3 77.6
1986 91.6 83.6 99.0 89.0 81.0 90.3 81.7 75.8 93.4 76.8 71.5 81.1
1987 88.5 85.3 96.0 89.3 89.0 92.0 86.7 77.8 95.7 83.5 74.9 85.4
1988 89.8 88.7 93.4 88.2 88.8 89.3 86.9 79.4 93.3 89.3 79.2 86.2
1989 92.2 91.7 94.0 88.2 90.7 89.6 88.2 84.4 90.8 93.0 84.9 86.5
1990 95.0 95.2 95.0 93.7 96.5 92.7 90.6 90.5 92.1 95.4 92.5 92.8
1991 97.7 100.9 96.5 96.5 98.3 97.5 93.3 97.7 95.4 101.3 100.7 98.9
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
1993 98.8 98.3 104.1 100.7 96.3 101.8 104.7 102.5 102.6 101.1 91.7 99.9
1994 97.2 97.0 105.6 98.5 97.8 96.2 101.8 99.5 97.0 102.6 88.0 98.1
1995 96.6 96.7 103.4 NA 101.3 94.9 103.7 98.6 NA 106.1 89.7 101.3
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 10. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 22.7 NA NA 9.7 17.8 9.5 14.6 11.7 7.9 10.8 10.4
1955 NA 29.1 12.7 NA 12.1 24.7 9.5 15.0 13.7 10.3 15.6 13.8
1960 NA 32.3 10.9 19.1 13.5 20.3 10.5 15.9 15.3 11.3 16.9 16.3
1961 NA 30.1 11.2 20.0 14.4 21.1 11.6 16.2 17.3 11.9 17.6 17.4
1962 NA 27.5 12.1 20.5 15.0 21.9 12.4 17.3 18.0 13.0 18.3 17.9
1963 NA 27.3 12.5 21.7 15.8 22.6 12.7 19.9 19.2 13.2 19.0 17.7
1964 NA 27.2 12.4 23.1 15.7 22.8 12.7 20.9 20.4 13.3 19.2 17.7
1965 NA 27.4 13.4 24.5 16.6 23.1 13.1 20.1 21.5 13.9 19.7 18.8
1966 NA 29.0 13.5 25.2 18.0 22.6 13.6 19.7 22.6 14.6 20.6 19.7
1967 NA 30.2 13.3 26.1 18.7 22.8 13.6 20.7 23.5 15.7 21.1 19.1
1968 NA 30.3 13.9 25.6 17.5 23.3 13.5 20.5 23.3 16.4 21.0 16.6
1969 NA 31.1 14.5 25.5 18.9 22.2 14.0 21.6 24.1 16.5 21.1 17.7
1970 NA 35.1 15.3 26.6 20.4 22.1 17.1 24.7 25.2 17.8 23.1 20.0
1971 NA 36.5 17.3 29.4 22.3 23.5 19.3 28.5 28.3 19.9 25.2 22.5
1972 NA 38.1 20.8 33.6 24.3 27.1 22.0 31.2 32.3 22.3 28.8 25.2
1973 NA 38.4 26.1 40.0 30.9 33.0 28.1 34.0 40.1 27.2 32.8 26.3
1974 NA 44.5 30.9 46.0 35.8 35.2 31.7 37.3 45.7 31.8 36.4 29.7
1975 NA 50.6 34.5 56.9 41.2 46.8 35.2 48.6 56.8 40.7 47.0 38.3
1976 NA 55.8 35.0 55.7 42.1 45.4 34.5 41.7 54.5 43.6 51.5 34.6
1977 55.7 54.4 41.1 63.8 46.0 47.3 39.7 45.5 61.2 50.4 55.8 37.4
1978 60.1 54.0 54.2 73.9 54.5 55.7 47.8 51.1 70.5 55.6 59.8 47.3
1979 66.9 57.3 50.9 81.8 60.7 63.7 53.8 57.8 77.8 57.1 63.1 61.7
1980 76.6 66.1 51.5 93.0 59.4 73.7 60.0 62.9 82.0 64.5 70.0 82.5
1981 81.3 70.7 54.6 75.3 50.7 64.3 50.3 55.9 66.7 61.4 64.9 79.3
1982 85.7 79.5 48.8 59.7 47.0 59.0 49.5 54.4 64.9 58.5 53.8 71.5
1983 86.2 78.8 51.8 50.7 43.7 54.9 46.9 53.8 58.9 54.4 45.5 61.7
1984 88.0 72.4 51.7 46.2 41.1 51.2 42.7 48.7 49.5 49.9 43.8 55.7
1985 89.9 70.1 49.9 47.0 42.6 51.9 41.9 47.6 48.4 50.2 45.6 57.0
1986 91.6 72.7 74.5 64.1 60.4 69.0 58.8 62.6 67.1 64.5 58.4 67.4
1987 88.5 77.8 84.2 76.9 78.4 81.0 75.3 73.9 83.0 77.0 68.8 79.2
1988 89.8 87.1 92.4 77.1 79.5 79.4 77.3 75.1 83.0 85.1 75.2 86.9
1989 92.2 93.6 86.3 72.0 74.8 74.3 73.2 75.8 75.3 83.6 76.6 80.2
1990 95.0 98.6 83.1 90.2 94.1 90.1 87.6 93.0 88.9 94.8 90.9 93.8
1991 97.7 106.4 90.9 90.7 92.7 91.4 87.8 97.0 89.6 97.0 97.0 99.0
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
1993 98.8 92.1 118.8 93.6 89.6 95.1 98.9 80.3 97.1 88.5 68.5 85.0
1994 97.2 85.8 131.0 94.7 92.9 91.8 98.1 76.1 93.8 90.4 66.4 85.1
1995 96.6 85.1 139.5 NA 109.2 100.8 113.1 74.6 NA 104.0 73.2 90.6
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 11. Exchange rates, 12 countries, 1950-1995 (Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar)
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 100.0 110.5 35.2 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 87.4 151.2 37.1 197.1 46.1 87.0 112.6 158.0
1960 100.0 124.6 35.2 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 82.7 99.3 109.6 60.5 189.4 65.5 112.6 131.4 132.5
1975 100.0 118.8 42.7 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 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 89.7 100.6 107.7 67.3 139.6 71.7 116.8 130.4 98.8
1978 100.0 106.0 60.8 102.3 109.6 117.6 77.9 145.2 81.4 118.6 129.0 108.6
1979 100.0 103.2 58.1 109.6 114.8 124.4 85.2 148.3 87.7 122.7 135.9 120.2
1980 100.0 103.4 56.2 110.1 107.3 125.4 86.0 144.1 88.6 125.9 137.8 131.7
1981 100.0 100.8 57.5 86.8 84.6 97.3 69.3 108.2 70.7 108.2 115.0 114.6
1982 100.0 97.9 50.9 70.2 72.3 80.5 64.3 91.0 65.8 96.2 92.7 99.0
1983 100.0 98.1 53.4 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 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 54.2 57.0 58.9 53.1 64.6 53.0 72.3 67.7 73.5
1986 100.0 87.0 75.3 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 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 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 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 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 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
1993 100.0 93.7 114.1 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 96.2 95.0 95.4 96.3 76.5 96.7 88.1 75.5 86.7
1995 100.0 88.1 134.9 109.1 107.8 106.2 109.1 75.6 109.6 98.1 81.6 89.4
NA: Not Available
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 12. Average annual compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.8 6.2 NA NA 3.5 2.0 4.9 .9 4.1 2.9 2.4 1.9
1955 11.9 8.5 3.7 NA 4.7 3.5 7.4 1.3 6.0 4.4 3.8 2.8
1960 14.8 10.9 5.3 7.0 6.0 5.2 10.7 1.8 8.6 5.9 5.1 3.7
1961 15.3 11.1 6.1 7.4 6.5 5.8 11.8 2.0 9.4 6.4 5.5 3.9
1962 16.0 11.6 6.8 7.9 7.2 6.4 13.1 2.2 10.0 7.0 6.1 4.0
1963 16.6 12.1 7.6 8.8 7.7 6.9 13.7 2.7 11.0 7.4 6.6 4.2
1964 17.4 12.6 8.5 9.9 8.4 7.5 14.9 2.8 12.6 7.9 7.2 4.5
1965 17.9 13.3 9.4 10.8 9.3 8.1 16.3 2.9 14.1 8.6 7.8 4.9
1966 18.8 14.3 10.4 11.8 10.4 8.6 17.4 3.2 15.7 9.4 8.6 5.2
1967 19.5 15.1 11.7 12.7 11.5 9.1 17.9 3.5 17.3 10.4 9.4 5.3
1968 20.9 16.3 13.5 13.6 12.4 10.1 19.5 3.8 18.9 11.2 10.0 5.7
1969 22.3 17.5 15.8 14.8 13.8 11.0 21.3 4.1 21.2 12.1 10.6 6.2
1970 23.4 18.8 18.6 16.4 15.2 12.2 24.9 4.9 23.9 13.3 11.9 7.1
1971 24.9 20.1 21.2 18.5 17.4 13.5 27.3 5.5 27.0 15.1 13.4 8.0
1972 26.6 21.6 24.3 20.8 18.9 14.8 29.9 6.1 30.4 16.5 14.5 9.1
1973 28.6 23.3 29.4 23.6 21.7 16.7 33.6 7.3 35.6 18.5 16.0 10.6
1974 31.2 26.7 37.0 27.9 26.8 19.6 37.4 9.2 41.1 21.5 18.6 12.3
1975 34.5 30.1 42.1 32.1 30.9 23.1 40.1 11.4 46.1 25.6 22.4 16.3
1976 37.8 34.4 46.7 37.0 34.7 26.6 44.5 14.2 51.5 28.8 25.9 19.0
1977 41.2 38.2 51.6 41.2 38.0 30.0 47.8 16.7 55.7 31.8 28.0 21.6
1978 44.6 41.3 55.2 44.3 41.4 33.5 50.8 19.2 59.7 34.3 30.5 25.1
1979 48.6 45.1 59.1 48.2 46.2 37.9 54.3 23.1 63.4 35.5 32.4 29.7
1980 53.8 49.7 62.9 52.7 51.4 43.7 58.2 27.2 67.1 38.7 35.6 34.7
1981 59.1 56.6 66.8 57.1 55.8 49.9 61.1 32.9 70.3 43.2 39.5 39.7
1982 63.6 61.9 69.9 60.9 61.7 56.8 64.4 38.7 75.6 47.4 42.6 44.1
1983 67.2 66.5 71.9 62.9 66.8 62.5 67.4 45.3 79.1 52.5 47.4 47.5
1984 70.5 70.3 74.8 67.7 70.4 67.8 70.7 51.9 80.9 57.4 52.5 51.7
1985 74.3 74.0 77.6 73.0 72.7 73.1 73.5 57.8 83.1 62.6 57.4 56.6
1986 77.6 76.8 81.1 76.1 75.9 76.3 76.0 61.7 85.9 68.5 61.7 61.3
1987 80.2 79.7 83.3 78.5 81.1 79.6 79.1 66.4 88.2 76.3 66.7 68.6
1988 84.2 83.4 85.6 81.5 84.0 82.9 82.1 71.4 88.6 81.7 70.9 73.4
1989 86.9 86.0 89.9 85.3 87.7 87.2 84.9 78.3 88.8 86.0 78.2 77.1
1990 90.4 90.7 95.5 91.2 92.1 91.3 89.6 85.0 91.2 90.9 87.2 85.0
1991 94.6 96.0 98.9 95.3 95.9 95.9 94.3 93.2 95.2 96.4 94.9 93.3
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
1993 103.7 101.7 102.1 103.4 101.6 102.8 102.5 105.0 104.6 101.7 100.3 104.9
1994 107.7 105.1 104.4 109.7 104.7 105.2 107.4 107.2 106.1 105.5 107.4 107.7
1995 109.9 106.7 108.5 NA 108.3 107.0 112.3 113.9 NA 109.5 115.1 112.0
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, 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, July 1996.
Table 13. Real hourly compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 50.6 38.5 NA NA 28.4 20.2 11.7 18.2 17.5 26.0 25.4 27.2
1955 61.2 48.3 18.2 NA 31.7 27.2 15.9 21.2 21.7 29.0 30.6 29.7
1960 70.7 56.8 23.2 25.1 38.5 30.7 23.5 24.3 27.0 35.9 35.5 34.8
1961 72.0 57.7 25.6 26.3 41.5 32.8 25.7 26.2 30.5 38.2 38.0 36.0
1962 74.0 58.8 27.4 27.9 42.3 34.7 28.3 29.3 31.8 39.8 40.5 36.3
1963 75.2 60.1 28.4 30.2 43.6 36.0 29.3 32.4 33.9 41.4 43.5 37.2
1964 77.4 61.5 30.8 32.7 45.5 37.9 31.0 32.6 37.1 41.9 45.9 38.4
1965 77.8 63.4 32.2 34.8 47.5 40.1 33.0 33.4 39.9 44.4 48.2 40.1
1966 79.0 66.1 33.8 37.0 50.6 41.3 34.6 34.9 42.3 47.0 49.7 41.7
1967 80.8 67.7 36.4 39.2 52.7 43.3 36.0 37.7 45.3 50.3 52.8 42.8
1968 83.5 70.1 40.2 40.9 53.7 47.2 38.2 39.7 48.6 53.5 56.2 43.9
1969 85.0 72.4 45.3 43.1 58.4 48.4 40.9 42.4 51.4 57.3 59.1 45.2
1970 86.1 75.6 50.0 47.3 62.6 52.0 46.6 49.1 56.5 57.5 62.0 48.9
1971 87.5 79.2 54.4 51.9 68.0 55.1 49.7 53.9 60.0 62.0 64.3 51.6
1972 89.2 81.2 59.7 56.8 70.6 57.3 52.2 57.2 63.6 64.4 67.7 55.5
1973 90.5 81.7 65.4 61.6 78.4 61.0 55.2 60.9 70.3 67.6 70.0 57.9
1974 90.5 84.8 69.5 66.5 82.3 63.8 58.8 66.7 76.3 72.4 75.0 60.0
1975 93.0 87.5 72.5 71.5 89.6 69.5 61.0 71.8 79.1 77.6 83.9 64.3
1976 95.3 93.1 71.4 74.3 91.8 72.6 63.1 76.5 81.4 82.1 88.7 64.1
1977 97.2 95.5 72.8 77.4 91.3 75.4 66.6 75.9 82.9 84.4 86.5 62.3
1978 97.6 94.3 74.5 79.9 91.4 77.8 69.9 77.8 86.2 86.2 89.3 66.8
1979 96.3 95.2 76.4 83.3 93.2 79.6 72.3 81.4 88.9 86.7 90.2 69.9
1980 95.0 95.7 75.4 86.6 91.6 80.8 74.5 78.8 87.9 84.9 88.0 71.6
1981 94.6 97.9 77.0 89.3 90.3 82.5 74.5 80.3 85.8 83.2 86.6 74.6
1982 97.7 97.7 78.6 85.7 89.2 87.6 74.5 81.3 86.2 82.7 85.4 75.1
1983 97.3 98.0 79.2 84.4 89.2 88.2 75.9 82.8 87.6 84.1 84.8 77.1
1984 96.4 98.3 79.8 86.0 88.7 89.0 77.6 85.9 88.1 86.8 85.5 79.2
1985 98.1 99.4 81.4 87.1 90.5 91.0 80.4 88.9 90.7 89.8 87.6 81.7
1986 100.6 99.2 85.0 89.5 89.1 92.3 84.0 87.2 94.0 91.9 90.7 85.8
1987 99.8 97.9 86.9 90.2 93.7 92.8 87.8 88.1 97.6 96.3 92.7 91.5
1988 99.6 98.2 87.8 91.0 92.8 93.9 90.2 87.2 96.5 96.0 94.4 92.9
1989 98.1 97.1 91.1 92.9 93.5 95.5 91.9 89.9 96.2 96.1 98.5 90.6
1990 97.6 97.8 95.3 94.8 96.9 97.4 95.9 94.3 96.5 97.7 97.7 91.9
1991 98.6 98.6 97.6 97.6 98.3 98.8 98.7 98.2 98.0 99.8 97.5 96.9
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
1993 99.4 98.3 103.2 102.2 101.1 101.6 102.2 102.8 102.0 99.2 95.2 103.7
1994 99.5 100.4 104.7 103.1 NA 102.4 103.3 98.2 100.7 101.1 97.0 103.2
1995 99.5 99.5 108.2 NA NA 102.3 106.5 96.1 NA 103.0 98.7 103.1
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 14. Real average annual compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 12 countries, 1950-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 51.4 41.6 NA NA 40.0 24.6 17.2 20.1 22.8 34.1 33.0 32.0
1955 62.2 50.4 21.6 NA 43.8 32.8 23.3 24.0 28.3 38.2 39.5 35.4
1960 70.3 58.7 28.6 31.6 50.5 37.0 31.1 27.8 35.6 45.3 43.3 40.6
1961 71.8 59.4 31.1 33.0 52.8 39.7 33.4 29.6 38.5 47.5 46.1 41.5
1962 74.5 61.3 32.6 35.1 54.2 41.8 35.9 32.1 39.9 49.4 48.7 41.3
1963 76.0 62.9 33.6 37.9 55.1 43.4 36.6 35.6 42.4 51.2 51.7 42.3
1964 78.6 64.6 36.2 40.9 58.0 45.3 38.8 35.8 45.9 52.0 53.9 44.1
1965 79.9 66.5 37.2 42.9 60.3 47.5 41.0 35.6 49.4 53.9 56.2 45.4
1966 81.5 68.9 39.2 45.2 63.1 49.2 42.4 37.5 52.0 57.2 57.8 46.4
1967 81.8 70.2 42.3 47.3 65.1 51.0 42.9 41.1 55.5 60.6 60.5 47.2
1968 84.4 72.8 46.6 49.4 64.8 54.1 46.1 43.3 58.5 63.0 63.1 48.8
1969 85.3 74.9 51.8 51.5 69.6 56.7 49.5 45.9 60.9 65.8 65.1 50.3
1970 84.6 77.7 56.6 55.0 72.2 60.2 56.1 52.2 65.7 65.6 68.2 53.6
1971 86.2 80.9 60.6 59.4 78.1 63.3 58.4 55.7 69.2 70.0 70.5 55.2
1972 89.4 82.9 66.1 63.6 79.4 65.1 60.7 58.7 72.3 71.7 72.3 58.8
1973 90.5 83.1 71.9 67.3 83.5 68.3 63.8 63.3 78.3 74.8 73.5 62.1
1974 88.8 85.7 73.2 70.8 89.4 70.4 66.6 66.9 82.4 79.1 77.9 62.3
1975 89.9 87.4 74.7 72.0 94.1 74.5 67.4 70.8 83.9 84.4 85.4 66.6
1976 93.2 92.9 75.7 76.2 96.9 78.1 71.5 75.4 86.1 87.0 89.3 66.9
1977 95.5 95.5 77.3 79.1 95.6 80.4 74.3 74.4 87.3 88.1 86.3 65.5
1978 95.9 94.6 79.4 81.5 94.5 82.2 77.0 76.1 89.9 87.8 86.8 70.0
1979 93.9 94.8 82.0 84.9 96.3 83.9 79.3 79.0 91.6 86.8 86.4 72.9
1980 91.6 94.9 80.9 87.0 95.3 85.2 80.7 76.7 91.1 85.5 83.3 72.2
1981 91.2 95.9 82.0 87.6 92.7 85.9 79.8 78.1 89.4 83.9 82.5 74.2
1982 92.5 94.7 83.5 85.9 93.0 87.4 79.7 79.0 90.8 82.7 81.7 75.4
1983 94.6 96.2 84.3 82.4 94.3 87.7 80.9 80.4 92.4 84.4 82.1 77.6
1984 95.2 97.5 85.7 83.5 93.4 88.7 82.8 83.4 91.6 87.0 84.3 80.3
1985 96.9 98.7 87.2 85.8 92.1 90.0 84.5 85.5 91.9 89.6 85.7 82.9
1986 99.3 98.4 90.5 88.3 92.8 91.6 87.5 86.1 94.8 91.6 88.4 86.8
1987 99.1 97.8 92.8 89.7 95.3 92.6 91.0 88.5 97.9 93.6 91.5 93.2
1988 99.9 98.4 94.8 92.0 94.5 94.0 93.4 90.6 97.6 94.1 93.0 95.2
1989 98.3 96.5 97.4 93.5 94.1 95.4 93.9 93.2 96.7 94.7 96.7 92.7
1990 97.1 97.2 100.3 96.5 96.3 96.8 96.4 95.4 97.0 96.2 97.0 93.4
1991 97.4 97.5 100.6 97.6 97.9 98.4 98.1 98.3 98.2 98.7 96.7 96.8
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
1993 100.7 99.8 100.8 100.6 100.3 100.7 98.7 100.7 102.0 99.5 97.6 103.3
1994 101.9 103.0 102.4 104.3 101.3 101.4 100.5 99.0 100.7 101.7 102.5 103.5
1995 101.2 102.4 106.5 NA 102.6 101.4 103.1 99.8 NA 103.0 106.0 104.0
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other
countries.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 15. Korea: Output and unit labor costs, all employees in manufacturing, 1970-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
Unit Labor Costs
National U.S.
currency dollar Exchange
Year Output Compensation basis basis rate*
1970 6.4 .6 9.9 25.0 251.4
1971 7.6 .8 10.5 23.7 224.9
1972 8.6 1.0 11.7 23.2 198.7
1973 11.2 1.5 13.8 27.1 196.0
1974 13.1 2.2 16.9 32.6 193.0
1975 14.4 2.9 19.8 32.0 161.3
1976 18.2 4.5 24.7 39.8 161.3
1977 21.0 6.0 28.7 46.3 161.3
1978 25.7 8.8 34.1 55.0 161.3
1979 28.3 11.7 41.5 67.0 161.3
1980 27.8 14.7 52.7 67.7 128.5
1981 30.7 18.6 60.7 69.5 114.6
1982 32.8 21.0 64.0 68.3 106.8
1983 37.8 25.7 68.0 68.4 100.6
1984 42.5 31.2 73.2 70.9 96.9
1985 46.9 33.1 70.5 63.3 89.7
1986 56.1 39.2 69.9 61.9 88.6
1987 67.1 49.9 74.4 70.6 94.9
1988 76.3 63.6 83.3 88.9 106.7
1989 79.5 70.7 88.9 103.3 116.3
1990 87.3 82.5 94.5 104.2 110.3
1991 95.2 94.2 99.0 105.4 106.4
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 105.0 103.1 98.2 95.5 97.3
1994 116.0 120.7 104.1 101.1 97.2
1995 128.5 132.1 102.9 104.1 101.2
*Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.
Table 16. Taiwan: Output and unit labor costs, all employees in manufacturing, 1970-1995
(Indexes: 1992=100)
Unit Labor Costs
National U.S.
currency dollar Exchange
Year Output Compensation basis basis rate*
1970 13.2 3.0 22.3 14.0 62.9
1971 16.2 3.8 23.4 14.7 62.9
1972 19.5 4.6 23.7 14.9 62.9
1973 22.9 6.3 27.5 18.1 65.8
1974 21.7 9.0 41.5 27.5 66.2
1975 22.6 9.5 42.1 27.9 66.2
1976 27.7 12.1 43.6 28.9 66.2
1977 31.2 14.2 45.4 30.1 66.2
1978 37.7 17.3 45.8 31.1 67.9
1979 40.7 21.2 52.0 36.3 69.8
1980 44.7 26.9 60.1 42.0 69.8
1981 48.1 33.6 69.8 47.6 68.3
1982 49.1 36.6 74.5 47.9 64.3
1983 54.8 40.0 73.0 45.9 62.8
1984 62.7 47.8 76.2 48.4 63.5
1985 64.8 51.4 79.3 50.1 63.1
1986 74.6 61.4 82.3 54.7 66.5
1987 84.4 69.2 82.1 65.1 79.3
1988 87.9 74.0 84.2 74.1 88.0
1989 91.2 80.2 87.9 83.8 95.3
1990 90.8 85.6 94.3 88.2 93.5
1991 96.9 92.6 95.6 89.9 94.0
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.5 103.4 100.9 96.1 95.2
1994 108.4 110.6 102.0 97.0 95.1
1995 115.8 114.8 99.2 94.2 95.0
*Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1996.