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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov Technical information: (202) 606-5654 Media contact: (202) 606-5902 USDL: 97-285 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Friday, August 15, 1997 INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY AND UNIT LABOR COST TRENDS, 1996 The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported on 1996 developments in manufacturing labor productivity (output per hour) and unit labor costs in the United States and other industrial economies. Manufacturing productivity in the United States increased 3.2 percent in 1996, the same rate as in 1995. Of eight foreign economies for which data are available, only Germany (former West Germany) and Japan had higher rates of productivity growth than the United States. The United Kingdom was the only economy in which productivity fell. (See table A and chart 1.) U.S. productivity growth in 1996 resulted from a combination of a 2.7 percent increase in output and a 0.5 percent decline in labor input, as measured by hours worked. In Germany, productivity increases were due to large drops in hours worked that more than offset declining output, while in Japan productivity growth was due solely to a rise in output. Chart 1. Percent change in output per hour, 1996 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT -2Unit labor costs - the cost of labor input required to produce one unit of output - fell 0.3 percent in the United States in 1996. Among the 11 foreign economies for which these data are available, only Japan and Taiwan had decreases in unit labor costs as measured in their national currencies. The largest increases occurred in Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (Unit labor costs can be computed either as compensation in nominal terms divided by real output or, equivalently, as hourly compensation divided by output per hour.) An increase in productivity represents a decrease in the amount of labor input needed to produce a unit of output; thus, an increase in productivity can offset an increase in compensation per hour when calculating unit labor costs. The 3.2 percent increase in productivity in the United States more than offset an hourly compensation increase of 2.9 percent, leading to a slight decline of 0.3 percent in unit labor costs. Relative currency values play a role in international competitiveness. In order to make changes in unit labor costs more relevant for discussing competitiveness, foreign countries' costs can be converted to U.S. dollars, as in chart 2. Currency values relative to the U.S. dollar depreciated in most of the foreign economies in 1996, causing unit labor costs either to fall or to grow at a slower rate when measured on a U.S. dollar basis rather than on a national currency basis. The depreciation of the yen was primarily responsible for a 16 percent drop in unit labor costs in Japan, the largest drop of the economies studied. The two countries with substantially appreciating currencies, Italy and Sweden, were the only economies where U.S. dollar-based unit labor costs rose more than 10 percent. Chart 2. Percent change in manufacturing unit labor costs (U.S. dollar basis), 1996 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT -3The 1996 measures of 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 1996 data are available. Comparable productivity figures for Korea and Taiwan are not available. Productivity data for Denmark are not shown because the Danish national statistical agency has not produced recent data on hours worked. (See technical notes.) Table A. Manufacturing productivity and labor costs in 12 countries or areas Percent change, 1995-96 Country or area Output per hour Output Hourly Unit labor costs Employ- Average compen- National U.S. Exchange Hours ment hours sation currency dollars rate (1) United States 3.2 2.7 - 0.5 - 0.5 0.0 2.9 - 0.3 - 0.3 --- Canada Japan Korea (2) Taiwan (2) Denmark (3) France 1.1 4.5 NA NA NA 2.1 1.3 4.5 7.4 5.3 - .3 .8 .2 .0 NA NA NA - 1.3 .9 - .8 NA NA - 1.1 - 1.4 - .7 .8 NA NA NA .1 4.4 1.5 NA NA NA 2.2 3.2 - 2.9 2.7 - 3.5 2.6 .0 3.9 -16.1 - 1.6 - 6.9 - 1.0 - 2.5 .6 -13.6 - 4.1 - 3.5 - 3.5 - 2.5 Germany (4) 4.1 Italy 2.3 Norway .8 Sweden 2.3 United Kingdom - .2 - .5 - .8 2.8 2.2 .5 - 4.4 - 3.0 1.9 - .1 .6 - 3.0 - .9 2.0 .9 .3 - 1.5 - 2.2 - .1 - 1.0 .4 5.0 7.2 4.4 6.5 3.8 .8 4.8 3.5 4.1 4.0 - 4.0 10.7 1.5 10.8 2.8 - 4.8 5.6 - 1.9 6.4 - 1.1 (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 1994-1996 by the Danish national statistical agency. (4) Data relate to the former West Germany. NA=Not Available. Although the productivity measure relates output to the hours of persons employed in manufacturing, it does not measure the specific contributions of labor as a single factor of production. Rather, it reflects the joint effects of many influences, including new technology, capital investment, capacity utilization, energy use, and managerial skills, as well as the skills and efforts of the work force. Table B (pages 8-12) shows average annual percent changes for selected periods starting in 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. -4The U.S. output measure The output measure for the United States in this release is the chain-weighted value-added index introduced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in August 1996. This series is based on annually-changing price weights. The chain-weighted series replaced the fixed-weighted series as the manufacturing output measure published with the national accounts. For more information, see Robert E. Yuskavage, "Improved Estimates of Gross Product by Industry, 1959-94," Survey of Current Business, August 1996, pp. 133-155. The U.S. output series used in this news release for international comparisons differs from the output series used in last year's news release. In the July 17, 1996, release on international comparisons of manufacturing productivity and unit labor cost trends, the U.S. output measure was based on a fixedprice weight scheme in which the price weights were not changed over the entire 1977-95 period. The U.S. output series used for international comparisons also differs from the manufacturing series that BLS publishes in its news releases on quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs. While both series are based on annually-changing price weights, the quarterly U.S. manufacturing series is on a "sectoral" output basis rather than on a value added basis. Sectoral output is gross output less intra-sector transactions. (See William Gullickson, "Measurement of productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing," Monthly Labor Review, July 1995, pp. 13-28.) Productivity, output, and labor input Manufacturing productivity (output per hour) increased 3.2 percent in the United States in 1996. The combination of an output increase of 2.7 percent and a slight decrease in labor hours produced the same rate of productivity growth as in 1995. In addition to the United States, only Germany and Japan had productivity growth rates greater than 2-1/2 percent in 1996. Only Germany had a higher rate of productivity growth in 1996 than in 1995. Growth in output in the United States in 1996 was 2.7 percent, down from a 3.5-percent increase in 1995. Manufacturing output either declined or grew at a slower rate in 1996 than in 1995 in all countries. increases in output. Korea and Taiwan had the largest Labor input (as measured by total hours worked) declined or was essentially unchanged in 1996 in all but two of the economies for which data are available. The United States, with a decrease in hours worked of 0.5 percent, was among five countries with declining labor input. Germany (down 4.4 percent) and Italy (down 3.0 percent) had the largest declines in hours worked. -5Hourly 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 2.9 percent in the United States in 1996. Only France and Japan had smaller increases than did the United States. Increases in the remaining countries ranged from about 4 to 7 percent. With productivity growth slightly outpacing the increase in hourly compensation costs, U.S. unit labor costs edged down in 1996. The decline offset the slight increase that occurred in 1995, leaving U.S. unit labor costs about at their 1994 level. Japan and Taiwan were the only foreign economies to have decreases in unit labor costs in 1996. Unit labor costs were unchanged in France, but increased in Korea and the remaining European countries at rates ranging to nearly 5 percent. Unit labor costs in U.S. dollars The currencies of all but three of the foreign economies studied depreciated relative to the U.S. dollar in 1996. Most of these declines were in the range of 1 to 5 percent, but the Japanese yen dropped 13-1/2 percent. Currencies in Canada, Italy, and Sweden appreciated relative to the U.S. dollar. Changes in currency values relative to the U.S. dollar can have an important effect on changes in competitiveness as measured by U.S. dollar-based unit labor costs. In 1996, the countries with the largest increases in unit labor costs measured on a national currency basis, Italy and Sweden, also had the largest increases in relative currency values. Thus, when measured on a U.S. dollar basis, these countries had unit labor costs increases of nearly 11 percent, far exceeding those of their competitors. In contrast, Japan had one of the largest declines in national currency-based unit labor costs and also the largest decline in currency value relative to the dollar. Consequently, Japanese unit labor costs measured in U.S. dollars plunged 16 percent. Trade-weighted unit labor costs Because the economies covered by the BLS comparative data differ greatly in their relative importance to U.S. trade in manufactured goods, BLS constructs indexes of U.S. unit labor cost trends relative to a trade-weighted average of unit labor cost trends in the other economies. (See chart 3.) The construction of the indexes shown in chart 3 is a three-step process. First, the indexes of unit labor costs for all economies are rebased to a common year (in this case 1979=100). Second, for each year, a "competitors" index is calculated as the weighted geometric mean of the indexes for all competitor economies. Finally, the U.S. index number for each -6year is divided by the competitors index number (and multiplied by 100) to obtain a relative ratio of the United States to the competitors. This process is used to calculate the relative trade-weighted unit labor cost indexes on both a national currency and a U.S. dollar basis. Chart 3 relates the growth of U.S. unit labor costs to the growth of foreign competitors' costs. 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. After 1985, U.S. costs either rose at a slower rate than the competitors' costs or fell at a faster rate in most years. Chart 3. U.S. manufacturing unit labor costs relative to 11 competitors, 1979-96 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT U.S. relative unit labor costs on a national currency basis fell at a rate of slightly more than 1 percent per year between 1979 and 1990 before leveling off between 1990 and 1996. Unit labor costs relative to Canada and Europe declined at a faster rate through 1990, but were partially offset by rising unit labor costs relative to Japan. Since 1990, unit labor costs relative to Canada and Japan increased slowly, but these increases were negated by declining unit labor costs relative to Europe. The movement of U.S. relative unit labor costs measured in U.S. dollars can be divided into three distinct periods between 1979 and 1996. During the first period, between 1979 and 1985, the U.S. dollar appreciated 35 percent on a trade-weighted basis. Thus, despite generally declining relative unit labor costs during that period on a national currency basis (the dashed line), relative unit labor costs on a U.S. dollar basis (the solid line) were up 25 percent, attributable entirely to appreciation of the dollar. Between 1985 and 1988, the value of the U.S. dollar plummeted 32 percent from its peak 1985 value. The falling value of the dollar was the main reason that U.S. relative unit -7labor costs on a dollar basis dropped 36 percent over the threeyear span. Compared to their 1979 levels, relative unit labor costs had fallen 20 percent by 1988. Since 1988, changes in relative currency values and, consequently, U.S. relative unit labor costs on a U.S. dollar basis have moderated. The dollar depreciated less than 3 percent between 1988 and 1996, while relative unit labor costs, which rose slightly on a national currency basis, fell less than 1 percent on a U.S. dollar basis. Because 1996 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 discussed in the section "Trade-Weighted Measures" in the technical notes on pages 13-15. TECHNICAL NOTES ARE PRESENTED ON PAGES 13-15. -8Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-96 Average annual rates of change /1 Country or area 1979-96 1979-85 1985-90 1990-96 1993 1994 1995 1996 Output per hour United States 2.7 3.3 2.2 2.4 1.6 4.2 3.2 3.2 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France 1.7 3.6 NA NA NA NA 3.1 2.4 3.5 NA NA 6.1 2.1 3.0 .4 4.3 NA NA 2.3 .1 3.4 2.1 3.0 NA NA NA NA 2.8 1.7 .5 NA NA 4.1 6.8 1.8 4.4 1.3 NA NA 5.7 NA 8.5 1.2 7.3 NA NA - .6 NA 3.7 1.1 4.5 NA NA NA NA 2.1 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 2.3 3.7 NA 1.7 3.2 4.0 2.0 4.9 4.4 2.4 3.0 4.4 2.2 2.6 1.9 1.4 1.8 4.6 2.6 3.4 NA 1.1 4.7 3.0 .4 4.5 2.1 .6 6.7 5.6 7.5 2.8 9.8 .8 8.8 2.9 2.9 3.1 3.4 1.1 5.1 - .9 4.1 2.3 NA .8 2.3 - .2 Continued on next page -10Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-96--continued Average annual rates of change /1 Country or area Output 1979-96 1979-85 1985-90 1990-96 1993 1994 1995 1996 United States 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.2 3.0 6.6 3.5 2.7 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France 1.6 3.6 9.8 6.6 NA 1.2 .8 1.5 4.7 8.8 8.1 2.6 2.9 - .4 1.5 4.8 13.2 7.0 2.6 - .5 2.6 1.8 1.4 8.0 4.9 NA 1.0 .4 4.8 -4.0 5.0 2.5 -3.1 1.1 -3.8 7.6 - .7 10.4 5.7 4.5 1.9 5.3 3.8 5.4 10.8 6.0 3.1 2.8 4.0 1.3 4.5 7.4 5.3 NA - .3 .8 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom .4 2.1 NA .4 2.1 .7 .2 1.7 1.8 .6 2.2 -1.2 2.3 4.0 3.1 -1.6 1.2 3.4 -1.1 1.0 NA 2.0 2.7 .3 -8.5 -3.4 -1.7 2.7 1.3 1.4 1.8 5.4 5.1 3.9 14.1 4.2 .3 5.7 2.3 3.0 9.8 2.2 - .5 - .8 NA 2.8 2.2 .5 United States -0.5 -1.2 0.0 -0.2 1.4 2.4 0.3 -0.5 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France - .1 .0 NA NA NA NA -2.2 - .9 1.1 NA NA -3.3 .8 -3.3 1.1 .5 NA NA .2 - .6 - .8 - .3 -1.5 NA NA NA NA -2.3 3.0 -4.4 NA NA -6.8 -5.3 -5.5 3.1 -2.0 NA NA -1.1 NA -2.9 2.6 -1.8 NA NA 3.7 NA .3 .2 .0 NA NA NA NA -1.3 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom -1.9 -1.5 NA -1.2 -1.1 -3.1 -1.8 -3.1 -2.5 -1.8 - .8 -5.3 .2 1.3 1.2 -2.9 - .5 -1.2 -3.6 -2.3 NA .9 -1.9 -2.6 -8.9 -7.6 -3.7 2.1 -5.1 -4.0 -5.3 2.6 -4.2 3.1 4.9 1.2 -2.6 2.6 -1.0 1.9 4.5 3.2 -4.4 -3.0 NA 1.9 - .1 .6 Total hours Continued on next page -11Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-96--continued Average annual rates of change /1 Country or area 1979-96 1979-85 1985-90 1990-96 1993 1994 1995 1996 Employment United States -0.7 -1.4 -0.1 -0.6 0.1 1.3 1.1 -0.5 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France - .2 .5 NA NA NA .0 -1.9 - .8 1.2 NA NA -2.7 1.0 -2.3 1.1 .8 NA NA - .4 - .1 - .9 - .7 - .5 NA NA NA -1.0 -2.3 1.4 -2.1 NA NA -5.4 -4.6 -4.7 2.1 -2.0 NA NA -3.7 .6 -2.8 2.2 -2.5 NA NA 4.8 3.2 - .1 .9 - .8 NA NA NA -1.1 -1.4 -1.0 -1.8 NA -1.2 -1.7 -3.0 -1.1 -2.9 -2.3 -1.8 -1.2 -4.9 1.1 .3 1.4 -2.7 - .8 -1.2 -2.8 -2.3 NA .7 -2.9 -2.5 -6.0 -5.7 -3.7 1.8 -7.4 -3.5 -5.1 - .2 -4.2 2.8 1.8 .6 -2.3 - .5 -1.3 2.8 3.5 2.4 -3.0 - .9 NA 2.0 .9 .3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.4 1.3 1.1 -0.8 0.0 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France .2 - .5 NA NA NA NA - .3 - .1 .0 NA NA - .6 - .3 -1.0 .0 - .3 NA NA .7 - .5 .1 .5 -1.0 NA NA NA NA .0 1.6 -2.3 NA NA -1.5 - .8 - .8 1.0 .1 NA NA 2.7 NA - .2 .4 .7 NA NA -1.1 NA .4 - .7 .8 NA NA NA NA .1 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom - .8 .3 NA .0 .6 - .2 - .7 - .1 - .3 .0 .4 - .5 -1.0 1.0 - .2 - .2 .3 .0 - .8 .1 NA .2 1.0 .0 -3.1 -2.0 .0 .3 2.6 - .5 - .3 2.8 .0 .2 3.1 .6 - .4 3.1 .3 - .9 1.0 .8 -1.5 -2.2 NA - .1 -1.0 .4 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom Average hours United States Continued on next page -11- Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-96--continued Average annual rates of change /1 Country or area 1979-96 1979-85 1985-90 1990-96 1993 Hourly compensation /3: 1994 1995 1996 National currency basis United States 4.9 7.1 3.9 3.5 2.4 2.7 3.5 2.9 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France 5.3 4.2 NA NA NA NA 6.8 8.7 4.7 NA NA 7.8 8.1 12.8 4.1 4.6 NA NA 3.9 5.4 4.5 2.9 3.5 NA NA NA NA 3.1 .1 4.6 NA NA 5.0 2.4 3.6 2.0 2.1 NA NA 3.3 NA 2.5 1.8 3.1 NA NA 3.0 NA 1.4 4.4 1.5 NA NA NA NA 2.2 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 5.5 9.8 NA 7.0 7.5 8.6 5.9 16.7 4.9 10.0 9.6 11.8 5.0 6.9 2.1 7.8 8.5 8.7 5.5 5.7 NA 3.6 4.5 5.5 6.1 7.1 3.8 1.5 -2.0 6.6 5.7 - .5 3.2 2.9 3.1 3.1 4.8 2.5 2.7 4.6 6.2 .8 5.0 7.2 NA 4.4 6.5 3.8 Unit labor costs: National currency basis United States 2.2 3.7 1.6 1.1 0.8 -1.4 0.3 -0.3 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France 3.5 .7 5.3 3.8 NA 4.1 3.6 6.1 1.2 9.2 7.3 1.6 5.9 9.5 3.7 .3 6.0 3.5 1.5 5.2 1.0 .8 .5 .9 .7 NA 1.4 .3 -1.6 4.1 -1.8 .9 .9 -4.1 1.8 -2.3 .8 - .7 1.1 -2.3 2.1 -5.5 .6 -4.0 - .6 .1 3.6 4.4 -2.3 3.2 -2.9 2.7 -3.5 NA 2.6 .0 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway 3.1 5.9 NA 5.3 3.8 11.2 .5 7.4 2.7 4.2 .2 6.4 2.8 2.2 NA 2.4 5.6 2.5 1.7 .9 -1.7 -3.2 -6.0 2.1 1.8 - .6 - .7 3.5 .8 4.8 NA 3.5 Sweden United Kingdom 4.1 4.5 6.4 7.1 6.6 3.9 - .1 2.4 -8.2 1.0 -5.2 .1 1.1 1.7 4.1 4.0 Continued on next page -12Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-96--continued Average annual rates of change /1 Country or area Unit labor costs: 1979-96 1979-85 1985-90 1990-96 1993 1994 1995 1996 U.S. dollar basis United States 2.2 3.7 1.6 1.1 0.8 -1.4 0.3 -0.3 Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France 2.6 4.9 2.2 5.5 NA 3.5 2.5 3.4 - .3 - .9 5.5 -9.7 -5.8 -3.3 7.1 10.8 10.5 12.0 13.8 17.2 11.7 -1.8 5.4 -1.3 .4 NA 2.5 1.3 -7.9 18.8 -4.5 -3.9 -6.2 -10.8 -4.9 -7.7 9.5 - .8 .9 1.1 4.2 -3.5 .2 4.4 3.6 - .1 17.5 18.5 8.7 3.9 -16.1 -1.6 -6.9 NA -1.0 -2.5 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 4.3 2.1 NA 3.8 1.4 2.6 -4.1 -3.2 -7.6 -1.7 -5.2 -1.3 15.8 14.3 12.9 13.3 14.8 10.7 4.0 -2.0 NA 1.9 -2.2 .2 - .3 -19.7 -3.8 -11.7 -31.4 -14.1 .3 -5.5 -4.0 2.7 -4.3 2.1 15.3 -1.7 12.6 15.2 9.2 4.8 -4.0 10.7 NA 1.5 10.8 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 - .9 4.2 -2.9 1.6 - .3 - .6 -2.5 -1.5 -9.3 -1.7 -11.1 -11.0 3.2 10.5 4.2 8.2 12.2 11.4 -2.6 4.9 -2.1 - .3 1.3 1.1 -6.3 14.1 -2.7 -4.8 -7.0 -6.9 -5.6 8.7 - .1 - .2 3.5 2.0 - .4 8.7 4.2 - .1 13.4 13.5 .6 -13.6 -4.1 -3.5 -4.8 -3.5 Exchange rates /4 United States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France -1.1 -11.7 10.5 1.0 -6.6 2.2 11.2 -2.5 Germany /2 Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 1.2 -3.6 1.0 -1.4 -2.6 -1.8 -7.6 -12.9 -8.0 -8.4 -11.0 -7.9 12.7 9.8 12.7 6.6 7.8 6.6 1.2 -4.1 1.3 - .5 -2.1 -2.2 -5.6 -21.7 -5.4 -12.5 -25.3 -15.0 2.0 -2.4 2.2 .6 1.0 2.0 13.2 -1.1 13.4 11.4 8.1 3.0 -4.8 5.6 -4.9 -1.9 6.4 -1.1 1/ Rates of change based on the compound rate method. 3/ Adjusted to include employment taxes 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 the U.S. dollar. NA = Not available. Table 1. Output per hour in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 1950 NA 27.9 NA NA 22.3 13.9 13.2 11.2 12.3 24.5 19.7 24.9 1955 NA 34.2 8.7 NA 24.3 17.6 19.7 15.6 15.4 28.5 21.6 26.9 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 40.5 42.7 45.7 47.4 49.6 52.0 53.1 54.2 58.1 61.2 14.0 15.8 16.6 18.0 20.4 21.2 23.3 26.3 29.5 33.8 17.8 18.1 19.0 19.7 21.0 22.1 23.6 24.9 27.1 29.6 29.5 31.2 32.8 33.9 36.6 38.4 40.4 43.3 47.3 49.2 23.0 24.5 26.1 27.5 29.7 31.8 34.4 36.5 40.3 42.9 29.2 30.6 32.7 34.1 37.0 39.3 40.9 43.4 47.0 50.4 19.6 21.2 23.4 24.1 24.3 27.1 29.4 30.9 33.3 34.5 19.6 20.6 21.2 22.0 23.9 25.4 27.0 29.0 32.4 35.4 36.7 38.0 38.0 40.0 42.2 44.7 46.6 48.3 51.3 56.1 27.6 29.0 31.3 33.1 36.0 38.7 40.3 43.7 47.8 51.5 30.5 30.5 31.2 32.9 35.0 36.1 37.3 39.0 41.8 42.8 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 70.5 60.4 64.7 67.8 72.2 73.3 70.8 75.8 79.9 38.0 40.2 44.1 48.1 49.3 50.7 53.8 55.9 32.7 34.6 38.6 42.6 45.0 46.8 51.5 54.1 52.1 55.6 60.1 66.1 68.3 75.2 77.9 79.4 45.5 48.2 50.4 53.9 55.1 57.0 60.5 64.1 52.1 54.1 57.4 61.1 63.3 65.9 70.7 72.9 36.8 37.4 40.5 43.9 46.7 45.2 51.4 52.4 38.6 41.0 44.2 48.9 52.5 51.7 57.2 61.9 57.8 60.1 63.6 67.6 70.6 69.7 71.9 71.5 52.8 55.1 57.9 62.1 64.8 65.8 66.8 65.8 43.7 45.8 48.4 51.9 52.8 51.6 53.9 54.4 Year 1978 1979 71.1 72.1 80.8 81.6 58.1 62.9 57.4 60.5 80.6 84.6 67.0 70.1 75.4 78.7 55.8 61.2 66.1 69.3 72.8 78.1 67.6 72.9 55.1 55.5 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 71.9 75.4 77.7 81.4 84.6 87.7 88.2 94.3 97.8 97.0 78.5 82.3 78.6 84.3 91.4 94.1 92.6 93.5 93.9 94.3 63.9 66.0 68.7 69.6 71.9 77.3 76.9 81.2 84.8 89.5 64.5 68.9 72.9 80.6 84.6 86.3 87.6 88.7 91.7 96.7 89.2 90.7 91.0 95.5 95.0 95.6 90.0 89.6 92.9 96.1 70.5 72.6 77.7 79.4 80.7 83.8 85.2 86.7 92.7 97.4 77.3 78.9 78.5 82.6 85.5 88.9 89.5 88.4 91.6 94.4 64.0 65.5 66.6 70.2 77.1 81.5 82.6 85.0 86.6 89.4 70.0 71.5 72.8 78.5 86.3 89.8 91.2 91.9 93.9 97.3 76.7 76.5 79.7 82.4 87.4 90.2 89.0 93.3 92.1 94.6 74.0 73.5 76.7 81.8 85.6 87.1 88.5 90.1 90.8 93.8 54.9 57.7 60.9 65.7 69.2 71.9 74.7 78.8 83.1 87.1 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 97.7 98.2 100.0 101.6 105.8 109.2 112.7 95.8 96.3 100.0 101.7 106.2 107.5 108.6 95.4 99.4 100.0 100.5 101.8 109.2 114.1 96.9 99.1 100.0 104.1 110.0 109.3 NA 96.0 97.9 100.0 106.8 NA NA NA 99.1 98.7 100.0 101.8 110.4 114.5 117.0 99.0 102.0 100.0 100.4 108.0 111.1 115.7 92.8 95.3 100.0 104.5 107.4 110.7 113.3 98.6 99.6 100.0 102.1 112.1 115.9 NA 96.6 97.5 100.0 100.6 101.4 102.5 103.3 95.0 95.0 100.0 106.7 116.1 122.0 124.8 90.1 94.4 100.0 105.6 108.7 107.7 107.5 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, August 1997. Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 1950 NA 30.1 NA NA 31.4 17.0 19.2 12.3 16.0 32.0 25.6 29.3 1955 NA 35.7 10.4 NA 33.6 21.2 28.8 17.7 20.1 37.4 27.9 32.0 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 41.9 44.0 47.6 49.5 52.1 54.5 55.4 17.3 19.3 19.8 21.2 24.0 24.5 27.0 22.4 22.7 23.9 24.8 26.3 27.2 28.8 38.7 39.7 42.1 42.8 46.6 48.9 50.4 27.7 29.6 31.4 33.1 35.5 37.6 40.9 38.4 39.6 41.3 42.4 46.1 48.7 50.0 22.4 23.9 25.7 26.5 26.8 28.8 31.6 25.8 26.1 26.7 27.5 29.7 31.4 33.2 46.2 47.2 47.0 49.2 52.3 54.1 56.6 33.7 35.1 37.5 39.3 42.3 45.1 47.0 35.6 35.2 35.6 37.4 40.2 40.8 41.4 Year 1967 1968 1969 NA NA NA 56.2 60.4 63.3 30.6 34.2 38.6 30.1 32.7 35.4 53.4 57.0 58.6 43.0 46.2 50.3 51.7 56.6 60.7 33.7 36.4 37.4 35.4 38.9 41.9 58.1 60.1 64.3 50.1 53.6 56.8 43.0 46.5 47.6 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 69.2 69.8 70.3 62.1 66.1 69.3 73.4 74.1 70.8 75.6 80.0 81.1 81.2 43.0 44.8 48.9 52.8 52.0 52.2 57.0 59.4 62.0 67.5 38.0 39.7 43.2 46.6 47.9 47.1 52.9 55.2 58.5 61.7 60.0 63.9 67.6 70.4 74.1 79.0 82.2 83.1 83.3 87.4 52.7 55.3 57.2 60.3 60.9 61.1 65.1 68.3 70.8 73.9 62.4 63.4 66.6 70.4 71.4 72.5 79.9 81.1 82.8 86.0 39.1 38.6 41.6 45.6 46.8 44.5 50.6 51.4 54.6 59.4 45.0 47.2 50.2 54.5 56.7 54.8 60.5 65.2 68.9 71.4 65.7 67.6 70.6 74.6 76.9 75.6 76.0 74.4 73.9 78.0 58.1 60.5 61.8 65.2 67.3 67.0 67.2 65.6 65.7 69.8 47.9 49.0 51.3 55.7 54.8 53.5 56.3 57.2 57.7 57.9 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 69.3 72.7 73.6 79.1 83.5 86.6 87.1 93.5 98.0 97.2 77.8 80.7 76.1 82.7 90.7 93.3 91.8 93.4 94.0 93.8 68.6 70.3 73.0 74.0 77.3 82.8 81.9 86.7 91.7 95.6 64.7 67.5 73.1 78.7 82.1 85.0 86.3 88.1 92.7 97.2 92.8 93.1 94.9 100.9 100.0 97.3 93.7 91.1 94.6 96.7 74.3 75.5 77.5 79.0 80.3 82.9 84.4 86.5 92.8 97.3 83.5 84.1 83.7 87.9 90.9 93.1 93.0 91.3 94.4 96.2 62.2 63.7 64.7 68.2 74.8 78.4 81.4 85.3 90.0 92.8 72.5 74.5 76.7 82.8 89.7 91.0 92.0 92.2 94.9 97.8 77.1 76.9 79.4 82.5 87.4 89.8 88.7 90.7 90.3 93.3 70.1 70.1 73.4 79.2 84.4 85.2 86.3 88.9 89.4 92.1 55.4 57.4 61.1 66.1 70.2 72.9 75.6 80.3 85.2 89.1 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 97.2 97.0 100.0 102.9 108.4 110.9 114.5 95.2 95.2 100.0 103.3 109.0 110.6 111.1 100.5 102.5 100.0 98.1 99.5 107.5 113.2 98.6 99.1 100.0 102.5 111.3 109.4 NA 95.5 97.6 100.0 106.0 107.3 106.8 107.8 98.5 98.3 100.0 100.9 109.3 113.9 116.4 98.8 101.0 100.0 97.3 104.3 107.0 109.8 94.0 95.4 100.0 102.5 108.2 115.0 115.0 99.0 99.8 100.0 102.1 112.1 116.2 NA 95.1 96.4 100.0 100.9 102.0 102.1 102.8 94.3 94.3 100.0 109.5 122.7 130.3 131.9 91.6 94.3 100.0 105.1 108.9 108.7 109.0 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, August 1997. Table 3. Output in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) Year United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 1950 NA 22.6 2.2 NA 26.3 19.2 14.5 9.4 16.8 38.2 31.2 50.3 1955 NA 29.3 4.9 NA 28.9 24.0 27.5 14.6 23.0 46.7 36.1 59.2 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 34.2 35.6 39.7 42.3 46.5 51.2 54.5 55.8 59.5 63.7 10.7 12.8 13.9 15.5 18.0 18.7 21.2 25.4 29.3 34.1 30.7 32.1 34.6 36.2 39.5 40.8 43.1 43.7 46.7 52.2 40.1 42.3 45.9 46.5 52.0 55.4 56.5 57.1 61.5 64.9 32.4 34.8 37.3 40.2 43.9 46.0 50.3 52.7 55.6 62.3 41.5 44.0 46.2 47.1 51.2 55.0 55.9 54.7 60.3 67.4 21.5 23.7 26.2 27.9 28.3 29.7 32.4 35.7 39.0 41.5 31.8 32.9 34.6 36.0 39.4 42.2 44.5 46.2 50.6 55.5 56.5 58.8 59.3 62.9 67.3 70.9 75.1 77.5 79.4 85.2 46.5 49.6 53.4 56.0 61.0 65.3 67.1 69.3 72.9 78.6 68.4 68.5 68.7 71.1 77.6 79.8 81.2 81.8 87.5 90.9 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 74.9 78.7 81.3 61.0 64.8 70.1 77.6 79.9 74.6 80.0 83.0 86.7 90.0 38.8 40.7 44.4 50.0 48.7 46.2 50.2 51.8 53.3 57.9 57.5 60.1 64.7 70.6 73.4 67.9 73.0 73.2 74.3 76.2 66.8 68.2 74.0 78.1 79.3 77.4 81.1 81.5 81.2 85.9 66.9 71.1 74.5 80.1 81.7 80.0 84.7 88.6 90.7 93.3 70.9 71.6 73.8 78.5 77.7 74.1 79.8 81.3 82.8 87.1 44.8 45.5 48.0 54.1 57.6 54.3 62.4 64.6 67.8 74.8 59.7 61.7 63.3 67.9 70.4 65.8 69.8 73.3 75.5 77.5 89.1 92.3 96.7 102.2 107.3 105.0 105.2 103.0 100.6 104.7 81.7 82.2 82.7 88.5 93.3 93.6 93.6 88.3 85.9 91.4 91.2 90.2 92.1 100.6 99.4 92.6 94.3 96.1 96.6 96.4 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 77.4 80.7 76.2 80.6 89.2 91.8 91.0 97.9 104.4 104.0 85.9 89.1 77.6 82.6 93.3 98.5 99.3 104.1 109.4 110.3 59.9 62.1 64.1 66.1 70.4 76.1 74.9 78.4 84.6 90.2 78.2 77.2 80.4 84.5 87.2 88.9 89.0 88.7 93.1 98.9 89.7 86.9 88.3 94.2 98.6 101.7 101.7 97.6 99.1 100.3 92.7 91.2 92.1 92.0 90.9 91.2 91.2 91.1 96.3 101.6 85.3 84.4 81.5 82.7 85.2 88.3 89.7 88.0 90.9 94.0 78.7 77.1 75.9 76.6 80.0 82.6 84.8 88.5 94.8 98.6 77.6 77.7 76.7 79.2 83.7 86.0 88.1 89.3 92.7 96.9 103.6 101.7 101.3 99.9 104.7 108.5 108.1 110.7 105.3 101.3 91.8 88.9 89.8 95.0 101.7 103.9 105.2 107.7 110.2 111.6 88.1 82.7 82.6 84.3 87.4 89.9 91.1 95.3 102.0 106.6 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 102.5 98.8 100.0 103.0 109.8 113.6 116.7 106.2 98.7 100.0 104.8 112.8 117.1 118.6 96.3 101.4 100.0 96.0 95.4 100.5 105.0 101.0 100.7 100.0 96.9 101.4 104.4 NA 99.3 99.2 100.0 101.1 103.0 105.9 105.6 103.5 101.7 100.0 96.2 101.3 105.4 106.2 99.1 102.8 100.0 91.5 93.1 93.4 92.9 100.4 99.7 100.0 96.6 101.9 107.7 106.8 100.1 100.6 100.0 98.3 103.3 105.8 NA 100.2 98.3 100.0 102.7 106.7 109.9 112.9 110.6 103.6 100.0 101.3 115.7 127.0 129.8 106.4 100.6 100.0 101.4 105.6 108.0 108.5 NA: Not Available Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1997. Table 4. Total hours in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium 1950 85.6 81.0 NA 1955 94.7 85.5 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 92.2 89.8 93.5 94.5 96.5 102.1 108.7 108.1 109.7 111.0 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Year Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 84.2 136.8 156.0 158.5 202.0 139.7 93.3 149.6 164.1 167.3 220.0 140.6 142.0 143.0 146.1 147.7 145.0 146.3 144.2 137.8 145.1 142.4 143.9 141.0 138.0 138.2 140.0 136.7 125.8 128.2 133.8 109.6 111.8 111.7 115.9 116.2 109.7 110.3 115.4 117.0 120.2 162.7 159.8 162.7 163.9 164.9 165.8 164.4 159.5 156.3 156.7 154.0 154.8 156.2 157.3 159.5 158.4 161.1 160.4 154.9 152.0 168.3 171.0 170.8 169.1 169.6 168.8 166.5 158.4 152.6 152.5 224.4 224.5 220.1 216.4 221.5 221.3 218.0 209.6 209.4 212.3 128.3 122.6 123.1 118.1 116.1 103.0 104.1 102.6 100.8 101.5 147.0 147.6 147.9 148.7 148.2 140.3 140.0 138.2 135.4 133.0 136.1 132.3 128.5 128.4 122.7 112.4 112.8 111.4 109.8 110.6 121.8 121.6 118.5 123.4 123.4 120.3 121.5 123.2 121.4 122.4 154.5 150.6 143.4 138.7 134.1 127.3 121.9 118.3 114.4 111.8 154.3 153.6 152.1 151.2 152.0 150.5 146.2 144.1 138.3 134.1 154.7 149.1 142.9 142.5 144.0 142.3 140.2 134.2 127.1 125.5 208.6 196.8 190.3 194.0 188.3 179.2 175.0 176.7 175.3 173.6 100.6 95.8 97.0 98.6 103.8 106.5 113.1 109.0 106.6 104.3 131.5 125.7 118.6 115.8 112.7 108.9 107.2 105.1 104.0 104.4 110.3 107.0 103.7 100.1 99.6 99.4 100.1 99.6 99.2 99.5 123.0 117.8 113.9 109.1 103.8 101.4 102.7 104.1 109.5 110.2 111.0 108.7 105.4 100.8 97.0 95.8 96.6 97.2 98.7 99.6 135.0 133.0 127.1 121.2 119.7 120.2 121.6 118.6 114.3 107.1 124.0 121.0 117.2 116.1 118.9 119.4 118.9 119.5 121.4 119.0 160.3 143.1 135.5 128.3 126.3 125.1 121.9 120.9 122.7 122.3 Denmark France Germany NA 118.1 138.6 109.9 55.9 NA 119.2 136.4 84.5 83.3 86.9 89.3 93.8 98.6 102.7 103.0 102.3 104.0 76.3 80.8 83.4 86.1 88.2 88.0 91.0 96.3 99.4 100.9 172.1 177.4 181.9 183.4 188.1 184.8 183.1 175.1 172.4 176.4 135.8 135.5 140.0 137.3 141.9 144.1 140.0 132.0 130.2 131.9 104.5 100.6 105.2 110.5 108.1 97.3 102.0 106.2 110.7 112.8 100.9 100.2 103.3 107.5 109.0 105.3 105.7 103.8 107.3 110.3 102.3 101.1 100.6 104.0 98.7 91.1 93.3 92.5 91.6 92.0 176.3 173.8 167.7 165.6 163.2 145.1 141.7 135.4 129.4 126.0 107.6 107.1 98.0 99.0 105.4 104.7 103.1 103.9 106.8 107.2 109.5 108.3 98.8 98.1 102.1 104.8 107.2 111.4 116.5 117.0 93.8 94.1 93.3 95.0 97.9 98.4 97.3 96.6 99.8 100.8 121.4 112.1 110.2 104.9 103.1 103.0 101.6 100.0 101.5 102.3 Italy 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 NA: 104.9 100.6 100.0 101.4 103.8 104.1 103.5 110.8 102.5 100.0 103.0 106.2 108.9 109.1 100.9 102.0 100.0 95.6 93.7 92.0 92.0 104.3 101.6 100.0 93.2 92.2 95.6 NA 103.3 101.3 100.0 94.7 NA NA NA 104.5 103.0 100.0 94.5 91.8 92.0 90.8 100.1 100.8 100.0 91.1 86.2 84.0 80.3 108.2 104.6 100.0 92.4 94.8 97.2 94.3 101.6 101.0 100.0 96.3 92.2 91.3 NA 103.7 100.8 100.0 102.1 105.2 107.2 109.3 116.4 109.0 100.0 94.9 99.6 104.1 104.0 118.0 106.6 100.0 96.0 97.2 100.3 100.9 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, August 1997. Table 5. Employment in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy 1950 84.4 74.9 NA NA 83.9 113.5 75.2 1955 93.1 82.0 47.1 NA 86.2 113.1 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 92.6 90.0 92.9 93.5 94.9 99.3 105.4 106.7 108.5 110.6 81.6 80.9 83.4 85.5 89.4 94.0 98.5 99.3 98.5 100.5 61.7 66.4 70.0 72.8 75.0 76.1 78.3 82.8 85.7 88.2 136.8 141.3 144.5 145.9 150.1 150.0 149.8 145.2 142.8 147.6 103.5 106.4 109.1 108.7 111.4 113.3 112.2 106.9 108.0 110.8 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 106.3 102.2 105.0 110.5 110.1 100.7 104.3 108.2 112.7 98.2 98.1 101.1 105.7 107.9 105.4 105.9 103.7 107.0 90.3 90.7 90.8 94.6 93.7 88.5 88.0 87.1 85.9 151.5 151.6 149.7 151.6 153.3 144.0 138.1 132.6 127.0 111.3 106.7 109.5 111.0 107.0 98.0 98.6 98.0 97.5 Year Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 76.4 105.0 119.3 122.0 171.7 95.5 82.5 114.5 125.2 129.7 184.7 116.6 117.5 118.7 121.2 123.5 122.3 122.9 122.4 120.3 123.8 108.1 111.3 111.8 111.0 111.0 113.0 111.8 105.8 106.6 111.0 95.9 98.9 102.0 105.3 105.6 103.1 102.5 105.9 107.3 110.9 123.3 126.3 129.6 130.9 133.0 134.1 133.7 130.4 130.0 132.2 122.2 124.8 126.3 127.8 128.8 130.9 132.8 133.5 132.0 132.6 137.8 141.3 142.2 142.4 144.3 144.8 143.0 138.3 136.0 138.4 192.2 194.9 193.1 190.0 193.0 195.5 196.0 190.0 188.2 190.7 127.0 128.6 130.1 132.9 134.3 130.9 130.2 129.7 128.2 113.6 112.9 110.8 111.5 108.9 102.2 99.9 100.3 100.0 114.6 117.6 115.4 118.7 123.1 122.1 123.3 125.7 124.1 132.7 130.7 126.2 124.5 124.2 120.1 115.3 112.3 109.7 135.6 136.4 136.9 136.9 139.5 138.7 138.4 138.5 136.1 140.6 135.9 133.8 135.8 138.7 139.8 139.4 134.5 130.7 190.4 183.9 179.6 180.6 181.3 173.1 167.5 168.1 167.4 1979 115.6 110.8 85.7 123.6 98.3 126.2 101.2 126.1 108.5 134.2 131.0 166.4 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 111.6 111.0 103.5 101.8 106.8 106.0 104.5 104.7 106.6 107.0 110.5 110.5 101.9 99.9 102.9 105.6 108.1 111.4 116.3 117.7 87.4 88.3 87.9 89.3 91.1 91.9 91.4 90.4 92.4 94.3 120.9 114.3 110.0 107.4 106.2 104.6 103.1 100.6 100.4 101.7 96.7 93.3 93.1 93.4 98.6 104.6 108.5 107.1 104.7 103.7 124.7 120.7 118.8 116.5 113.1 110.0 108.1 105.4 103.9 104.4 102.2 100.3 97.4 94.1 93.7 94.9 96.4 96.4 96.3 97.6 126.4 121.1 117.3 112.4 106.9 105.4 104.1 103.7 105.3 106.3 107.0 104.3 100.1 95.6 93.3 94.5 95.8 96.9 97.7 99.1 134.5 132.3 127.5 121.0 119.8 120.7 122.0 122.0 116.6 108.7 130.9 127.0 122.4 119.9 120.5 122.0 121.9 121.1 123.3 121.2 159.0 144.0 135.1 127.5 124.6 123.3 120.4 118.7 119.8 119.6 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 105.5 101.8 100.0 100.1 101.3 102.5 102.0 111.6 103.7 100.0 101.4 103.5 105.8 106.7 95.8 98.9 100.0 97.9 95.9 93.5 92.7 102.5 101.6 100.0 94.6 91.1 95.5 NA 104.0 101.6 100.0 95.4 96.0 99.1 98.0 105.1 103.4 100.0 95.3 92.7 92.6 91.2 100.3 101.8 100.0 94.0 89.3 87.3 84.6 106.8 104.5 100.0 94.3 94.1 93.6 92.8 101.1 100.8 100.0 96.3 92.2 91.0 NA 105.4 101.9 100.0 101.8 104.7 107.6 109.8 117.2 109.9 100.0 92.6 94.2 97.5 98.4 116.2 106.7 100.0 96.5 97.0 99.3 99.6 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, August 1997. Table 6. Average annual hours in manufacturing, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium 1950 101.5 108.2 NA 1955 101.6 104.2 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 99.6 99.7 100.7 101.0 101.7 102.8 103.1 101.3 103.5 103.0 104.1 104.5 105.0 104.9 104.2 103.7 Year Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom NA 140.7 122.1 146.1 110.2 130.3 130.8 129.9 117.7 118.7 NA 138.2 120.7 146.2 113.0 130.6 131.1 129.0 119.1 123.5 121.6 119.2 118.2 117.6 115.6 116.2 116.3 125.8 125.5 125.8 125.7 125.3 123.2 122.2 120.7 131.2 127.3 128.3 126.3 127.4 127.2 124.8 123.4 120.5 120.9 120.5 120.5 119.7 118.6 119.1 117.8 131.7 129.4 126.2 124.3 124.5 123.9 122.2 118.9 114.3 113.1 109.5 110.0 110.0 106.4 107.6 109.1 131.9 126.5 125.6 125.2 124.0 123.6 122.9 122.4 126.0 124.1 123.7 123.1 123.9 121.0 121.3 120.2 122.1 121.1 120.1 118.8 117.5 116.6 116.4 114.5 116.7 115.2 114.0 113.9 114.8 113.2 111.2 110.4 1968 1969 101.1 100.3 103.9 103.5 116.0 114.4 120.7 119.5 120.6 119.1 114.6 117.2 120.3 120.5 109.1 108.3 120.2 118.5 117.3 114.6 112.2 110.2 111.3 111.3 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 98.3 98.5 100.2 100.0 98.1 96.7 97.8 98.2 98.2 97.6 102.7 102.2 102.2 101.7 101.0 99.9 99.8 100.1 100.3 99.5 113.3 111.4 110.8 109.9 105.3 103.0 106.0 106.2 106.7 107.3 116.3 114.6 112.0 109.3 106.4 100.7 102.6 102.1 101.9 102.0 115.3 114.9 112.4 106.4 108.5 105.1 105.6 104.6 103.4 103.3 115.7 114.8 113.6 111.9 110.4 107.1 107.5 106.5 105.6 105.4 119.7 117.2 116.0 115.2 112.7 110.0 113.0 111.1 109.8 109.3 106.4 103.4 102.7 103.9 100.3 98.5 98.5 98.0 97.8 97.1 116.4 115.3 113.6 111.4 108.0 106.0 105.8 105.3 104.3 103.1 113.8 112.6 111.0 110.4 108.9 108.5 105.7 104.0 101.6 99.9 110.0 109.7 106.8 104.9 103.8 101.8 100.6 99.8 97.2 95.8 109.6 107.0 106.0 107.4 103.9 103.6 104.5 105.2 104.7 104.3 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 96.4 96.5 94.7 97.3 98.7 98.8 98.7 99.2 100.3 100.2 99.2 98.0 96.9 98.2 99.2 99.2 99.1 99.9 100.2 99.5 107.3 106.5 106.2 106.4 107.4 107.1 106.5 106.8 108.0 106.8 100.4 98.1 100.2 97.7 97.1 98.5 98.6 99.4 101.1 100.6 104.0 102.7 104.2 105.6 105.3 101.8 104.2 101.8 101.8 100.6 105.4 104.1 99.8 99.4 99.6 99.0 99.2 99.8 100.1 99.9 108.0 106.6 106.5 106.3 106.4 104.7 103.9 103.3 103.0 101.9 97.3 97.3 97.1 97.1 97.1 96.2 98.6 100.4 104.0 103.7 103.7 104.2 105.3 105.4 104.0 101.3 100.8 100.3 101.1 100.5 100.4 100.6 99.7 100.1 99.9 99.6 99.7 97.2 98.0 98.6 94.8 95.3 95.7 96.8 98.6 97.9 97.5 98.7 98.5 98.2 100.8 99.4 100.3 100.6 101.4 101.4 101.2 101.9 102.4 102.3 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 99.4 98.8 100.0 101.3 102.4 101.6 101.5 99.3 98.9 100.0 101.6 102.6 103.0 102.3 105.3 103.2 100.0 97.7 97.7 98.4 99.2 101.8 100.0 100.0 98.5 101.2 100.1 NA 99.4 99.7 100.0 99.2 NA NA NA 99.4 99.6 100.0 99.2 99.0 99.5 99.6 99.8 99.1 100.0 96.9 96.6 96.3 94.9 101.2 100.1 100.0 98.0 100.7 103.8 101.6 100.5 100.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.3 NA 98.4 98.9 100.0 100.3 100.5 99.6 99.5 99.3 99.2 100.0 102.6 105.7 106.7 105.7 101.6 99.9 100.0 99.5 100.2 101.0 101.3 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, August 1997. Table 7. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Year States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden* United Kingdom* 1950 8.7 5.7 NA NA 2.5 1.6 3.4 0.8 3.1 2.2 1.9 1.6 1955 11.7 8.1 3.1 NA 3.4 2.9 5.0 1.2 4.6 3.4 3.0 2.3 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 14.9 15.3 15.9 16.4 17.1 17.5 18.2 19.2 20.7 22.2 10.5 10.8 11.1 11.6 12.0 12.7 13.7 14.6 15.7 17.0 4.3 5.0 5.7 6.4 7.2 8.1 9.0 10.0 11.7 13.8 5.5 5.9 6.3 7.0 7.9 8.7 9.7 10.5 11.3 12.4 4.6 5.1 5.6 6.1 6.6 7.3 8.3 9.3 10.3 11.6 4.3 4.8 5.3 5.7 6.2 6.8 7.2 7.7 8.7 9.3 8.1 9.1 10.3 11.0 11.9 13.1 14.3 15.0 16.2 17.7 1.6 1.7 2.0 2.4 2.6 2.8 2.9 3.2 3.5 3.8 6.4 7.3 7.9 8.6 10.0 11.2 12.6 13.9 15.5 17.6 4.7 5.2 5.7 6.1 6.5 7.2 7.8 8.7 9.6 10.6 4.1 4.5 5.0 5.6 6.1 6.7 7.3 8.1 8.8 9.6 3.1 3.3 3.5 3.7 3.9 4.3 4.6 4.8 5.1 5.6 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 23.8 25.3 26.6 28.6 31.8 35.6 38.6 42.0 45.4 49.8 18.3 19.7 21.2 22.9 26.4 30.2 34.5 38.2 41.1 45.3 16.5 19.0 21.9 26.8 35.1 40.9 44.0 48.6 51.8 55.1 14.1 16.1 18.6 21.6 26.3 31.8 36.1 40.3 43.5 47.3 13.2 15.2 16.8 20.4 24.7 29.4 32.8 36.3 40.0 44.7 10.5 11.7 13.0 14.9 17.7 21.6 24.7 28.1 31.6 35.9 20.8 23.3 25.8 29.1 33.1 36.5 39.3 43.0 46.3 49.7 4.6 5.3 6.0 7.0 9.2 11.6 14.4 17.1 19.7 23.8 20.4 23.3 26.7 31.8 38.0 43.4 48.5 52.9 57.2 61.5 11.8 13.5 15.1 17.0 19.9 23.8 27.5 30.9 34.1 35.8 10.8 12.1 13.5 15.2 17.8 21.9 25.6 28.0 31.2 33.6 6.5 7.4 8.5 9.7 11.6 15.5 17.9 20.3 23.6 28.1 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 55.8 61.3 67.2 69.0 71.4 75.3 78.6 80.8 84.0 86.8 50.2 57.7 63.8 67.7 70.9 74.6 77.5 79.8 83.3 86.4 58.6 62.7 65.8 67.6 69.7 72.5 76.1 77.9 79.2 84.2 52.5 58.2 60.8 64.4 69.8 74.1 77.2 79.0 80.6 84.8 49.4 54.4 59.2 63.3 66.9 71.4 72.9 79.7 82.5 87.2 41.3 47.9 56.9 62.7 68.1 73.7 76.8 79.7 82.7 87.2 53.8 57.3 60.4 63.3 66.3 70.1 73.1 76.6 79.6 83.4 27.9 33.8 39.8 46.6 53.5 60.1 62.6 66.1 68.7 75.5 64.8 67.7 71.8 75.0 77.9 82.0 85.2 87.9 87.6 88.4 39.0 43.3 48.2 52.9 57.9 63.4 69.1 78.5 83.3 87.2 37.4 41.3 44.3 48.8 53.0 58.4 63.1 67.3 71.7 79.4 33.9 39.3 43.3 46.5 50.2 54.9 59.7 66.3 70.6 75.2 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 91.0 95.7 100.0 102.4 105.1 108.8 112.0 91.3 97.1 100.0 100.1 102.1 103.9 108.5 90.7 95.9 100.0 104.6 106.7 110.0 111.6 89.6 95.3 100.0 105.0 108.4 111.7 NA 92.6 96.2 100.0 102.4 NA NA NA 91.8 96.3 100.0 103.6 106.2 107.7 110.0 89.4 95.1 100.0 106.1 112.1 117.5 123.4 84.0 93.1 100.0 107.1 106.6 109.2 117.1 90.8 95.2 100.0 103.8 107.1 109.9 NA 92.3 97.5 100.0 101.5 104.4 109.2 114.0 87.6 95.4 100.0 98.0 101.1 107.4 114.3 83.5 93.1 100.0 106.6 109.9 110.8 115.0 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, August 1997. Table 8. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France* Germany 1950 8.7 6.3 NA NA 2.2 2.5 1.3 1955 11.7 10.0 1.1 NA 2.9 4.3 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 14.9 15.3 15.9 16.4 17.1 17.5 18.2 19.2 20.7 22.2 13.1 12.9 12.6 12.9 13.5 14.2 15.4 16.3 17.6 19.0 1.5 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.5 2.8 3.1 3.5 4.1 4.9 3.6 3.8 4.1 4.5 5.1 5.7 6.2 6.8 7.3 7.9 4.0 4.5 4.9 5.3 5.8 6.4 7.3 8.1 8.3 9.3 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 23.8 25.3 26.6 28.6 31.8 35.6 38.6 42.0 45.4 49.8 21.2 23.6 25.8 27.7 32.6 35.8 42.3 43.5 43.6 46.8 5.8 6.9 9.2 12.5 15.3 17.5 18.8 23.0 31.5 32.0 9.1 10.7 13.6 17.9 21.7 27.9 30.1 36.2 44.4 51.9 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 55.8 61.3 67.2 69.0 71.4 51.8 58.2 62.5 66.4 66.1 32.9 36.1 33.5 36.1 37.2 57.8 50.6 42.7 40.5 38.8 Year Netherlands Norway Sweden* United Kingdom* 1.6 1.4 1.9 2.1 2.6 1.9 2.3 2.1 2.9 3.3 3.7 4.7 5.1 5.7 6.2 6.7 7.3 7.7 8.3 9.3 9.5 3.1 3.6 4.0 4.3 4.7 5.1 5.6 5.9 6.3 7.0 3.1 3.4 4.1 4.8 5.1 5.5 5.8 6.4 6.8 7.5 3.0 3.6 3.8 4.2 4.9 5.5 6.1 6.8 7.5 8.5 4.1 4.5 4.9 5.3 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.6 8.4 9.2 4.7 5.1 5.7 6.3 6.9 7.6 8.3 9.2 10.0 10.8 5.0 5.3 5.6 5.8 6.2 6.8 7.3 7.4 6.9 7.6 10.6 12.4 14.6 20.4 24.5 31.0 32.8 36.5 43.9 51.3 10.0 11.3 13.6 17.7 19.4 26.6 27.4 30.2 37.2 44.6 8.9 10.5 12.6 17.2 20.0 23.2 24.4 28.9 36.0 42.3 9.1 10.6 12.6 14.9 17.4 21.9 21.4 23.8 28.5 35.3 9.9 11.7 14.6 20.1 24.9 30.3 32.3 37.9 46.6 53.9 10.3 11.9 14.2 18.4 22.4 28.4 31.3 36.0 40.4 43.9 12.1 13.8 16.6 20.3 23.5 30.8 34.2 36.5 40.2 45.7 8.8 10.2 12.0 13.4 15.4 19.5 18.3 20.0 25.7 33.8 53.0 46.0 42.8 41.8 39.0 51.8 46.6 45.7 43.6 41.3 46.3 39.7 38.9 38.7 36.4 40.3 36.6 36.2 37.8 37.5 57.4 47.9 47.3 46.2 42.7 49.0 46.9 46.4 45.0 44.1 51.5 47.5 41.1 37.1 37.3 44.6 45.1 42.9 39.9 38.0 Italy 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 75.3 78.6 80.8 84.0 86.8 66.0 67.4 72.7 81.8 88.2 38.5 57.3 68.3 78.4 77.3 40.2 55.6 68.0 70.4 69.2 40.7 54.3 70.3 73.9 71.9 43.5 58.7 70.2 73.5 72.3 37.2 52.6 66.5 70.7 69.2 38.8 51.7 62.8 65.0 67.8 43.4 61.2 76.3 77.9 73.3 45.8 58.1 72.3 79.3 78.4 39.5 51.6 61.8 68.1 71.7 40.4 49.6 61.5 71.2 69.7 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 91.0 95.7 100.0 102.4 105.1 108.8 112.0 94.5 102.4 100.0 93.7 90.3 91.5 96.1 79.3 90.3 100.0 119.3 132.4 148.4 130.1 86.2 89.6 100.0 97.6 104.3 121.8 NA 90.4 90.7 100.0 95.3 NA NA NA 89.2 90.3 100.0 96.8 101.4 114.3 113.8 86.4 89.4 100.0 100.1 108.0 128.2 128.1 86.3 92.5 100.0 83.9 81.5 82.6 93.5 87.6 89.4 100.0 98.2 103.5 120.5 NA 91.7 93.3 100.0 88.8 92.0 107.1 109.7 86.2 91.8 100.0 73.3 76.3 87.6 99.3 84.3 93.2 100.0 90.7 95.3 99.0 101.6 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. * Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor costs to employers. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1997. Table 9. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany 1950 NA 20.5 NA NA 11.1 11.7 25.6 1955 NA 23.8 36.1 NA 13.9 16.3 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 25.9 25.2 24.3 24.4 24.3 24.4 25.9 26.9 27.0 27.7 30.9 31.8 34.6 35.7 35.4 38.3 38.5 38.1 39.6 41.0 31.1 32.5 33.2 35.3 37.5 39.6 41.0 42.3 41.6 41.7 15.5 16.4 17.1 18.0 18.0 19.1 20.6 21.6 21.8 23.5 1970 NA 30.3 43.3 43.1 25.3 Year Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 7.4 25.4 9.0 9.5 6.6 25.5 7.6 29.6 11.8 13.7 8.7 18.7 19.4 20.2 20.9 21.0 21.3 20.8 21.1 21.7 21.7 28.0 29.9 31.6 32.3 32.3 33.4 34.8 34.6 34.4 35.1 8.0 8.2 8.7 10.1 10.6 10.2 10.0 10.5 10.4 11.0 32.9 35.7 37.0 39.3 41.9 44.1 46.5 48.1 47.9 49.7 12.9 13.6 15.0 15.2 15.4 16.0 16.8 18.1 18.8 19.0 14.9 15.6 16.1 16.8 16.9 17.3 18.2 18.6 18.5 18.7 10.3 11.0 11.3 11.2 11.2 11.9 12.5 12.3 12.3 13.1 23.0 39.9 12.6 52.7 20.4 20.5 14.8 Italy 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 NA NA NA NA NA NA 59.6 63.8 69.1 30.5 31.2 31.8 36.0 42.6 45.6 47.8 50.9 55.5 47.3 49.6 55.7 71.1 80.6 81.9 86.8 89.1 87.5 46.5 48.2 50.6 58.4 68.0 70.0 74.5 75.7 78.2 27.3 28.0 30.8 36.1 39.1 42.1 45.7 49.7 52.9 24.4 25.7 27.6 32.0 37.8 40.8 43.8 47.2 51.1 43.0 44.8 47.6 52.3 55.3 55.6 58.9 61.3 63.1 14.3 14.8 16.0 19.7 25.7 28.1 32.6 35.2 39.0 56.8 60.4 65.0 72.4 84.0 84.7 85.4 86.6 88.7 22.5 23.7 25.1 28.2 34.2 38.3 43.2 46.8 45.8 22.0 23.4 24.4 27.5 33.3 38.3 42.6 46.2 46.2 16.0 17.6 18.7 22.1 30.0 33.3 37.3 42.9 50.6 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 77.6 81.3 86.5 84.9 84.4 85.8 89.1 85.7 85.9 89.4 63.9 70.1 81.2 80.3 77.6 79.3 83.6 85.3 88.7 91.7 91.7 95.1 95.8 97.2 96.8 93.8 99.0 96.0 93.4 94.0 81.4 84.6 83.3 79.9 82.5 85.9 88.1 89.1 87.9 87.8 55.3 60.0 65.0 66.3 70.4 74.7 81.0 89.0 88.8 90.7 58.6 66.0 73.2 79.0 84.4 88.0 90.2 92.0 89.3 89.5 69.6 72.6 76.9 76.7 77.6 78.9 81.6 86.7 86.9 88.3 43.7 51.6 59.8 66.4 69.4 73.8 75.8 77.8 79.4 84.4 92.6 94.7 98.7 95.5 90.2 91.3 93.4 95.7 93.3 90.8 50.8 56.6 60.5 64.2 66.3 70.2 77.7 84.1 90.4 92.2 50.6 56.1 57.8 59.7 61.9 67.1 71.3 74.7 79.0 84.7 61.7 68.1 71.1 70.8 72.5 76.4 79.9 84.1 84.9 86.3 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 93.1 97.5 100.0 100.8 99.4 99.7 99.3 95.2 100.9 100.0 98.4 96.1 96.7 99.9 95.0 96.5 100.0 104.1 104.9 100.7 97.8 92.5 96.1 100.0 100.9 98.6 102.2 NA 96.5 98.3 100.0 95.9 97.9 102.2 104.9 92.6 97.6 100.0 101.8 96.2 94.0 94.0 90.3 93.2 100.0 105.6 103.9 105.7 106.6 90.5 97.7 100.0 102.5 99.2 98.6 103.3 92.1 95.5 100.0 101.7 95.5 94.9 NA 95.6 100.0 100.0 100.9 102.9 106.5 110.3 92.3 100.4 100.0 91.8 87.0 88.0 91.6 92.6 98.6 100.0 101.0 101.1 102.9 107.0 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, August 1997. Table 10. (Indexes: Unit labor costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 1950 NA 22.7 NA NA 9.7 17.7 9.5 14.6 11.7 7.8 10.7 10.4 1955 NA 29.1 12.7 NA 12.1 24.6 9.5 15.0 13.7 10.2 15.5 13.8 Year 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 32.3 30.1 27.5 27.3 27.2 27.4 29.0 30.2 30.3 31.1 10.9 11.2 12.1 12.5 12.4 13.4 13.5 13.3 13.9 14.5 20.0 21.0 21.4 22.8 24.2 25.7 26.4 27.4 26.8 26.8 13.5 14.4 15.0 15.8 15.7 16.6 18.0 18.7 17.5 18.9 20.2 21.0 21.8 22.5 22.7 23.0 22.5 22.7 23.2 22.1 10.5 11.6 12.3 12.7 12.7 13.1 13.6 13.6 13.4 14.0 15.9 16.2 17.3 19.9 20.9 20.1 19.7 20.7 20.5 21.6 15.4 17.3 18.0 19.2 20.4 21.6 22.6 23.5 23.3 24.1 11.3 11.9 13.0 13.2 13.3 13.9 14.6 15.7 16.4 16.5 16.8 17.6 18.2 18.9 19.1 19.6 20.5 21.0 20.9 21.0 16.3 17.4 17.9 17.7 17.7 18.8 19.7 19.1 16.6 17.7 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 59.6 63.8 69.1 35.1 36.5 38.1 38.4 44.5 50.6 55.8 54.4 54.0 57.3 15.3 17.3 20.8 26.1 30.9 34.5 35.0 41.1 54.2 50.9 27.9 30.8 35.2 41.9 48.3 59.6 58.3 66.8 77.4 85.7 20.4 22.3 24.3 30.9 35.8 41.2 42.1 46.0 54.5 60.7 22.0 23.4 27.0 32.9 35.1 46.7 45.3 47.2 55.6 63.6 17.1 19.3 22.0 28.1 31.6 35.2 34.5 39.7 47.8 53.8 24.7 28.5 31.2 34.0 37.3 48.6 41.7 45.5 51.1 57.8 25.6 28.6 33.1 41.1 47.5 58.6 56.4 61.2 70.5 77.8 17.8 19.9 22.3 27.2 31.7 40.7 43.6 50.4 55.5 56.2 23.0 25.1 28.7 32.7 36.2 46.8 51.3 55.5 59.5 62.8 20.0 22.2 24.9 25.9 29.2 37.7 34.0 36.8 46.6 60.8 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 77.6 81.3 86.5 84.9 84.4 85.8 89.1 85.7 85.9 89.4 66.1 70.7 79.5 78.8 72.4 70.1 72.7 77.8 87.1 93.6 51.5 54.6 48.8 51.8 51.7 49.9 74.5 84.2 92.4 86.3 89.6 73.4 58.5 50.3 45.9 46.5 63.4 76.7 76.8 71.6 59.4 50.7 47.0 43.7 41.1 42.6 60.4 78.4 79.5 74.8 73.5 64.2 58.9 54.9 51.2 51.9 69.0 81.0 79.3 74.3 59.9 50.3 49.5 46.9 42.6 41.9 58.7 75.3 77.2 73.3 62.9 55.9 54.4 53.8 48.7 47.6 62.6 73.9 75.1 75.8 82.0 66.9 64.9 58.9 49.5 48.4 67.1 83.0 83.0 75.3 63.9 61.3 58.2 54.7 50.5 50.8 65.3 77.5 86.1 82.9 69.6 64.6 53.6 45.3 43.6 45.4 58.3 68.5 75.0 76.4 81.3 78.1 70.4 60.8 54.8 56.2 66.4 78.0 85.6 80.0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 93.1 97.5 100.0 100.8 99.4 99.7 99.3 98.6 106.4 100.0 92.1 85.0 85.2 88.5 83.1 90.9 100.0 118.8 130.1 135.9 114.0 88.9 90.4 100.0 93.8 94.8 111.5 NA 94.1 92.7 100.0 89.2 93.0 110.2 109.1 90.0 91.5 100.0 95.1 91.8 99.8 97.3 87.2 87.7 100.0 99.7 100.0 115.3 110.7 93.0 97.0 100.0 80.3 75.8 74.6 82.5 88.9 89.8 100.0 96.2 92.4 104.0 NA 95.0 95.7 100.0 88.3 90.7 104.5 106.1 90.8 96.6 100.0 68.6 65.7 71.8 79.6 93.5 98.7 100.0 85.9 87.7 91.9 94.5 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, August 1997. Table 11. (Indexes: Exchange rates, 12 countries, 1950-1996 (Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar) 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United 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 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 124.6 119.4 113.1 112.0 112.0 112.1 112.2 112.0 112.2 112.2 35.2 35.1 35.1 35.1 35.0 35.1 35.0 35.0 35.2 35.4 64.5 64.5 64.6 64.5 64.6 64.8 64.5 64.7 64.4 64.1 87.6 87.4 87.5 87.4 87.3 87.3 87.4 86.5 80.7 80.3 107.9 107.9 108.0 108.0 108.0 108.0 107.7 107.6 106.9 102.2 37.4 38.9 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.1 39.1 39.2 39.1 39.8 198.4 198.4 198.5 198.2 197.3 197.2 197.3 197.4 197.7 196.4 46.6 48.5 48.8 48.8 48.8 48.8 48.6 48.8 48.6 48.5 87.1 87.0 87.1 86.9 86.8 86.9 86.9 86.9 87.0 87.0 112.7 112.7 113.0 112.3 113.1 112.9 112.8 112.9 112.7 112.7 159.0 158.6 159.0 158.5 158.1 158.3 158.1 155.7 135.5 135.3 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 115.8 119.7 122.0 120.8 123.6 118.8 122.6 113.7 106.0 103.2 35.4 36.5 41.8 46.8 43.5 42.7 42.8 47.3 60.8 58.1 64.7 66.2 73.0 82.8 82.7 87.6 83.3 89.7 102.3 109.6 80.5 81.6 86.8 100.2 99.3 105.3 99.9 100.6 109.6 114.8 95.7 96.1 104.9 119.3 109.6 123.6 110.9 107.7 117.6 124.4 42.8 44.9 49.0 59.0 60.5 63.6 62.1 67.3 77.9 85.2 196.5 199.3 211.1 211.8 189.4 188.9 148.4 139.6 145.2 148.3 48.6 50.4 54.8 63.3 65.5 69.7 66.6 71.7 81.4 87.7 86.9 88.3 94.3 108.2 112.6 119.2 113.9 116.8 118.6 122.7 112.3 114.1 122.5 133.8 131.4 140.6 133.7 130.4 129.0 135.9 135.6 138.4 141.6 138.8 132.5 125.8 102.2 98.8 108.6 120.2 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 103.4 100.8 97.9 98.1 93.3 88.5 87.0 91.1 98.2 102.1 56.2 57.5 50.9 53.4 53.4 53.2 75.3 87.7 98.9 91.8 110.1 86.8 70.2 62.9 55.7 54.2 72.0 86.1 87.4 81.6 107.3 84.6 72.3 66.0 58.3 57.0 74.6 88.2 89.6 82.5 125.4 97.3 80.5 69.5 60.6 58.9 76.4 88.0 88.8 83.0 86.0 69.3 64.3 61.2 54.9 53.1 72.0 86.9 88.9 83.0 144.1 108.2 91.0 81.1 70.2 64.6 82.6 95.0 94.6 89.8 88.6 70.7 65.8 61.6 54.8 53.0 71.8 86.8 88.9 82.9 125.9 108.2 96.2 85.1 76.2 72.3 84.0 92.2 95.2 89.9 137.8 115.0 92.7 75.9 70.4 67.7 81.7 91.8 94.9 90.2 131.7 114.6 99.0 85.8 75.7 73.5 83.1 92.8 100.8 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 Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 NA: 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 105.5 100.0 93.7 88.4 88.1 88.6 94.2 100.0 114.1 124.1 134.9 116.5 94.0 100.0 93.0 96.2 109.1 103.8 94.3 100.0 93.1 95.0 107.8 104.1 93.7 100.0 93.4 95.4 106.2 103.5 94.0 100.0 94.4 96.3 109.1 103.8 99.3 100.0 78.3 76.5 75.6 79.9 93.9 100.0 94.6 96.7 109.6 104.3 95.7 100.0 87.5 88.1 98.1 96.2 96.3 100.0 74.7 75.5 81.6 86.8 100.1 100.0 85.0 86.7 89.4 88.4 Not Available Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1997. Table 12. (Indexes: Average annual compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France* Germany 1950 8.8 6.2 NA NA 3.5 2.0 4.9 1955 11.9 8.5 3.7 NA 4.7 3.4 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 14.8 15.3 16.0 16.6 17.4 17.9 18.8 19.5 20.9 22.3 10.9 11.1 11.6 12.1 12.6 13.3 14.3 15.1 16.3 17.5 5.3 6.1 6.8 7.6 8.5 9.4 10.4 11.7 13.5 15.8 7.0 7.4 7.9 8.8 9.9 10.8 11.8 12.7 13.6 14.8 6.0 6.5 7.2 7.7 8.4 9.3 10.4 11.5 12.4 13.8 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 23.4 24.9 26.6 28.6 31.2 34.5 37.8 41.2 44.6 48.6 18.8 20.1 21.6 23.3 26.7 30.1 34.4 38.2 41.3 45.1 18.6 21.2 24.3 29.4 37.0 42.1 46.7 51.6 55.2 59.1 16.4 18.5 20.8 23.6 27.9 32.1 37.0 41.2 44.3 48.2 1980 1981 1982 53.8 59.1 63.6 49.7 56.6 61.9 62.9 66.8 69.9 52.7 57.1 60.9 Year Netherlands Norway Sweden* United Kingdom* 0.9 4.1 2.9 2.4 1.9 7.4 1.3 6.0 4.4 3.8 2.8 5.2 5.8 6.3 6.9 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.1 10.0 10.9 10.7 11.8 13.1 13.7 14.9 16.3 17.4 17.9 19.4 21.3 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.2 3.5 3.8 4.1 8.5 9.3 9.9 10.8 12.4 13.9 15.5 17.1 18.6 20.9 6.0 6.4 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.7 9.5 10.5 11.3 12.2 5.0 5.5 6.1 6.6 7.1 7.8 8.6 9.3 9.9 10.6 3.7 3.9 4.0 4.2 4.5 4.9 5.2 5.3 5.7 6.2 15.2 17.4 18.9 21.7 26.8 30.9 34.6 38.0 41.4 46.2 12.1 13.5 14.7 16.6 19.5 23.1 26.6 29.9 33.4 37.8 24.9 27.3 29.9 33.5 37.4 40.1 44.4 47.8 50.8 54.3 4.9 5.5 6.1 7.3 9.2 11.4 14.2 16.7 19.2 23.1 23.7 26.8 30.3 35.4 41.0 46.0 51.3 55.7 59.7 63.4 13.4 15.2 16.7 18.7 21.7 25.8 29.1 32.1 34.6 35.8 11.9 13.3 14.5 15.9 18.5 22.3 25.8 27.9 30.3 32.2 7.1 7.9 9.0 10.4 12.1 16.0 18.7 21.3 24.7 29.3 51.4 55.8 61.7 43.6 49.8 56.8 58.1 61.1 64.3 27.2 32.9 38.7 67.1 70.6 75.6 39.1 43.6 48.1 35.4 39.3 42.4 34.2 39.1 43.5 Italy 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 67.2 70.5 74.3 77.6 80.2 84.2 86.9 66.5 70.3 74.0 76.8 79.7 83.4 86.0 71.9 74.8 77.6 81.1 83.3 85.6 89.9 62.9 67.7 73.0 76.1 78.5 81.5 85.3 66.8 70.4 72.7 75.9 81.1 84.0 87.7 62.4 67.8 73.0 76.2 79.5 82.8 87.1 67.4 70.6 73.4 75.9 79.1 82.0 85.0 45.3 51.9 57.8 61.7 66.4 71.4 78.3 79.1 80.9 83.1 85.9 88.2 88.6 88.8 53.0 57.9 63.1 68.9 76.3 81.7 86.0 47.3 52.3 57.2 61.5 66.4 70.6 77.9 46.8 50.9 55.7 60.4 67.5 72.3 76.9 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 90.4 94.6 100.0 103.7 107.7 110.5 113.7 90.7 96.0 100.0 101.6 104.7 107.0 110.9 95.5 98.9 100.0 102.1 104.3 108.2 110.8 91.2 95.3 100.0 103.4 109.7 111.8 NA 92.1 95.9 100.0 101.6 105.1 109.2 113.0 91.2 95.9 100.0 102.8 105.2 107.1 109.5 89.2 94.2 100.0 102.8 108.4 113.2 117.1 85.0 93.2 100.0 105.0 107.3 113.4 118.9 91.2 95.4 100.0 103.8 107.1 110.3 NA 90.9 96.4 100.0 101.8 105.0 108.8 113.4 87.0 94.6 100.0 100.5 106.8 114.6 120.9 84.8 93.0 100.0 106.1 110.1 111.8 116.6 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. * Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor costs to employers. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1997. Table 13. (Indexes: Real hourly compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 1950 50.6 38.5 NA NA 28.4 20.1 11.8 18.2 17.2 26.3 25.2 27.1 1955 61.2 48.3 18.2 NA 31.7 27.1 16.0 21.2 21.4 29.4 30.5 29.7 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 70.6 72.0 74.0 75.2 77.3 77.7 79.0 80.8 83.4 85.0 56.8 57.7 58.8 60.1 61.5 63.4 66.1 67.7 70.1 72.4 23.2 25.6 27.4 28.4 30.8 32.2 33.8 36.4 40.2 45.3 25.1 26.3 27.9 30.2 32.7 34.8 37.0 39.2 40.9 43.1 38.5 41.5 42.3 43.6 45.5 47.5 50.6 52.7 53.7 58.4 30.5 32.7 34.5 35.9 37.7 39.9 41.1 43.1 47.0 48.2 23.6 25.8 28.4 29.4 31.1 33.1 34.7 36.1 38.3 41.1 24.3 26.2 29.3 32.4 32.6 33.4 34.9 37.7 39.7 42.4 26.6 30.0 31.3 33.4 36.5 39.4 41.7 44.7 47.9 50.6 36.3 38.7 40.3 42.0 42.5 45.0 47.6 50.9 54.2 58.0 35.3 37.9 40.3 43.3 45.7 48.0 49.4 52.5 56.0 58.8 34.8 36.0 36.2 37.2 38.4 40.1 41.7 42.8 43.9 45.2 Year 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 86.1 87.5 89.2 90.5 90.5 93.0 95.2 97.2 97.6 96.2 75.6 79.2 81.2 81.7 84.8 87.5 93.1 95.5 94.3 95.2 50.0 54.4 59.7 65.4 69.5 72.5 71.4 72.8 74.5 76.4 47.3 51.9 56.8 61.6 66.5 71.5 74.3 77.4 79.9 83.3 62.6 68.0 70.6 78.4 82.3 89.6 91.7 91.3 91.4 93.2 51.8 54.9 57.0 60.8 63.6 69.3 72.5 75.2 77.6 79.5 46.8 49.9 52.4 55.5 59.1 61.3 63.3 66.9 70.2 72.6 49.1 53.9 57.2 60.9 66.7 71.8 76.5 75.9 77.8 81.4 56.1 59.6 63.4 69.9 76.3 79.1 81.0 82.9 86.2 88.9 58.3 62.8 65.3 68.5 73.4 78.6 83.2 85.6 87.4 87.6 61.7 64.0 67.4 69.7 74.7 83.5 88.3 86.0 88.8 89.8 48.9 50.8 54.7 57.0 59.1 63.4 63.1 61.4 65.8 68.8 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 94.9 94.6 97.7 97.2 96.4 98.1 100.6 99.8 99.6 98.2 95.7 97.9 97.7 98.0 98.3 99.4 99.2 97.9 98.2 97.1 75.4 77.0 78.6 79.2 79.8 81.4 85.0 86.9 87.8 91.1 86.6 89.3 85.7 84.4 86.0 87.1 89.5 90.2 91.0 92.9 91.6 90.3 89.2 89.2 88.7 90.5 89.1 93.7 92.8 93.5 80.6 82.4 87.5 88.1 89.0 90.9 92.2 92.7 93.9 95.4 74.8 74.8 74.9 76.1 77.8 80.7 84.3 88.2 90.6 92.3 78.8 80.3 81.3 82.8 85.9 88.9 87.2 88.1 87.2 89.9 87.9 86.1 86.2 87.6 88.0 90.6 94.0 97.5 96.5 96.2 86.0 84.1 84.1 85.1 87.7 90.8 92.4 96.2 96.0 96.1 87.5 86.2 85.0 84.3 85.0 87.2 90.3 92.3 94.0 98.1 70.5 73.5 74.0 76.0 77.9 80.5 84.5 90.1 91.5 90.4 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 97.6 98.6 100.0 99.4 99.5 100.2 100.1 97.8 98.6 100.0 98.3 100.1 99.7 102.5 95.3 97.6 100.0 103.2 104.7 107.9 109.4 94.8 97.6 100.0 102.2 103.1 104.6 NA 96.9 98.3 100.0 101.1 NA NA NA 97.3 98.9 100.0 101.6 102.4 102.0 102.2 96.4 99.0 100.0 102.3 105.2 108.4 112.3 94.3 98.2 100.0 102.8 98.4 95.6 98.9 96.5 98.1 100.0 101.2 101.6 102.5 NA 97.7 99.8 100.0 99.2 100.7 102.8 105.9 97.4 97.2 100.0 95.3 96.2 98.0 103.5 91.7 96.6 100.0 105.0 105.6 102.9 104.3 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, August 1997. Table 14. (Indexes: Year 1950 Real average annual compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 12 countries, 1950-1996 1992=100) United States Canada Japan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom 51.4 41.6 NA NA 40.0 24.5 17.2 20.1 22.5 34.4 32.8 31.9 1955 62.2 50.4 21.6 NA 43.8 32.7 23.3 24.0 27.9 38.6 39.3 35.4 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 70.3 71.8 74.5 76.0 78.6 79.9 81.5 81.8 84.4 85.3 58.7 59.4 61.3 62.9 64.6 66.5 68.9 70.2 72.8 74.9 28.6 31.1 32.6 33.6 36.2 37.2 39.2 42.3 46.6 51.8 31.6 33.0 35.1 37.9 40.9 42.9 45.2 47.3 49.4 51.5 50.5 52.8 54.2 55.1 58.0 60.3 63.1 65.1 64.8 69.6 36.8 39.5 41.6 43.2 45.1 47.3 49.0 50.8 53.8 56.5 31.1 33.4 35.9 36.6 38.8 41.0 42.4 43.0 46.1 49.5 27.8 29.6 32.1 35.6 35.8 35.6 37.5 41.1 43.3 45.9 35.1 38.0 39.3 41.8 45.3 48.7 51.3 54.7 57.6 60.0 45.8 48.0 49.9 51.7 52.6 54.5 57.8 61.2 63.6 66.5 43.1 45.8 48.4 51.5 53.7 56.0 57.5 60.2 62.8 64.8 40.6 41.5 41.3 42.3 44.1 45.4 46.4 47.2 48.8 50.3 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 84.6 86.2 89.4 90.5 88.8 89.9 93.2 95.5 95.9 93.9 77.7 80.9 82.9 83.1 85.7 87.4 92.9 95.5 94.6 94.8 56.6 60.6 66.1 71.9 73.2 74.7 75.7 77.3 79.4 82.0 55.0 59.4 63.6 67.2 70.8 72.0 76.2 79.1 81.5 84.9 72.2 78.1 79.4 83.5 89.4 94.1 96.8 95.6 94.5 96.3 59.9 63.0 64.8 68.0 70.2 74.3 77.9 80.1 82.0 83.8 56.1 58.4 60.8 63.9 66.6 67.4 71.5 74.3 77.1 79.3 52.2 55.7 58.7 63.3 66.9 70.8 75.4 74.4 76.1 79.0 65.3 68.7 72.0 77.9 82.3 83.8 85.7 87.3 89.9 91.6 66.3 70.8 72.5 75.6 80.0 85.3 87.9 89.0 88.8 87.5 67.9 70.2 72.0 73.1 77.5 85.0 88.8 85.9 86.3 86.0 53.5 54.3 57.9 61.2 61.3 65.6 65.9 64.5 68.9 71.8 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 91.6 91.2 92.5 94.6 95.2 96.9 99.3 99.1 99.9 98.3 94.9 95.9 94.7 96.2 97.5 98.7 98.4 97.8 98.4 96.5 80.9 82.0 83.5 84.3 85.7 87.2 90.5 92.8 94.8 97.4 87.0 87.6 85.9 82.4 83.5 85.8 88.3 89.7 92.0 93.5 95.3 92.7 93.0 94.3 93.4 92.1 92.8 95.3 94.5 94.1 85.0 85.8 87.3 87.6 88.6 89.9 91.4 92.5 94.0 95.3 80.8 79.8 79.8 80.9 82.8 84.5 87.5 91.1 93.4 94.1 76.7 78.1 79.0 80.4 83.4 85.5 86.1 88.5 90.6 93.2 91.1 89.7 90.7 92.4 91.5 91.8 94.8 97.8 97.5 96.7 86.3 84.6 83.8 85.3 87.7 90.4 92.1 93.5 94.1 94.7 83.0 82.1 81.3 81.7 83.9 85.3 88.0 91.0 92.6 96.3 71.1 73.1 74.3 76.5 79.1 81.6 85.5 91.8 93.7 92.5 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 97.1 97.4 100.0 100.7 101.9 101.8 101.7 97.2 97.5 100.0 99.9 102.7 102.7 104.8 100.3 100.6 100.0 100.8 102.3 106.2 108.6 96.5 97.6 100.0 100.6 104.3 104.7 NA 96.3 97.9 100.0 100.3 101.7 103.6 105.0 96.7 98.5 100.0 100.7 101.4 101.5 101.8 96.2 98.0 100.0 99.1 101.6 104.3 106.5 95.4 98.3 100.0 100.8 99.1 99.3 100.4 96.9 98.3 100.0 101.2 101.6 102.8 NA 96.2 98.7 100.0 99.5 101.2 102.4 105.4 96.7 96.4 100.0 97.8 101.7 104.6 109.4 93.1 96.5 100.0 104.5 105.8 103.9 105.7 NA: Note: Not Available 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, August 1997. Table 15. Korea: Output and unit labor costs, all employees in manufacturing, 1970-1996 (Indexes: 1992=100) Year Output 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 6.4 7.6 8.6 11.2 13.1 14.4 18.2 21.0 25.7 28.3 27.8 30.7 32.8 37.8 42.5 46.9 56.1 67.1 76.3 79.5 87.2 95.2 100.0 105.0 116.0 128.5 138.1 Compensation 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.5 2.2 2.9 4.5 6.0 8.8 11.7 14.7 18.6 21.0 25.7 31.2 33.1 39.2 49.9 63.5 70.7 82.5 94.2 100.0 103.1 113.1 124.6 137.3 Unit Labor Costs National U.S. currency dollar basis basis 9.9 10.5 11.7 13.8 16.9 19.8 24.7 28.7 34.1 41.5 52.7 60.7 64.0 68.0 73.2 70.5 69.9 74.4 83.3 88.9 94.5 99.0 100.0 98.2 97.5 96.9 99.5 25.0 23.7 23.2 27.1 32.6 32.0 39.8 46.3 55.0 67.0 67.7 69.5 68.3 68.4 70.9 63.3 61.9 70.6 88.9 103.3 104.2 105.4 100.0 95.5 94.7 98.1 96.5 *Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1997. Exchange rate* 251.4 224.9 198.7 196.0 193.0 161.3 161.3 161.3 161.3 161.3 128.5 114.6 106.8 100.6 96.9 89.7 88.6 94.9 106.7 116.3 110.3 106.4 100.0 97.3 97.2 101.2 97.0 Table 16. Taiwan: (Indexes: 1992=100) Output and unit labor costs, all employees in manufacturing, 1970-1996 Year Output 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 13.2 16.2 19.5 22.9 21.7 22.6 27.7 31.2 37.7 40.7 44.7 48.1 49.1 54.8 62.7 64.8 74.6 84.4 87.9 91.2 90.8 96.9 100.0 102.5 108.4 114.9 121.0 Compensation 3.0 3.8 4.6 6.3 9.0 9.5 12.1 14.2 17.3 21.2 26.9 33.6 36.6 40.0 47.8 51.4 61.4 69.2 74.0 80.2 85.6 92.6 100.0 103.4 110.6 117.2 119.3 Unit Labor Costs National U.S. currency dollar basis basis 22.3 23.4 23.7 27.5 41.5 42.1 43.6 45.4 45.8 52.0 60.1 69.8 74.5 73.0 76.2 79.3 82.3 82.1 84.2 87.9 94.3 95.6 100.0 100.9 102.0 102.1 98.5 14.0 14.7 14.9 18.1 27.5 27.9 28.9 30.1 31.1 36.3 42.0 47.6 47.9 45.9 48.4 50.1 54.7 65.1 74.1 83.8 88.2 89.9 100.0 96.1 97.0 96.9 90.3 *Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1997. TECHNICAL NOTES The Bureau of Labor Statistics constructs trend indexes of Exchange rate* 62.9 62.9 62.9 65.8 66.2 66.2 66.2 66.2 67.9 69.8 69.8 68.3 64.3 62.8 63.5 63.1 66.5 79.3 88.0 95.3 93.5 94.0 100.0 95.2 95.1 95.0 91.6 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. For all of the countries, the term "hours" refers to hours worked. In general, the measures relate to total manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). However, the measures for France and Italy (beginning in 1970) refer to mining and manufacturing less energy-related products, and the measures for Denmark include mining and exclude manufacturing handicrafts from 1960 to 1966. Output. For most countries, the output measures are value added in manufacturing from the national accounts. However, output for Japan prior to 1970 and for the Netherlands prior to 1960 are indexes of industrial production. The national accounts measures for the United Kingdom are essentially identical to their indexes of industrial production. 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. In this release, the 1977-94 manufacturing output data for the United States are the gross product originating (value added) measures prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Comparable manufacturing output data currently are not available prior to 1977. The 1994-95 and 1995-96 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 is a chain-type annualweighted series.(Footnote 1) The Japanese value-added series is based upon one set of fixed price weights for the years 1970 through 1996. Output series for other foreign economies also employ fixed price weights, but the weights are updated periodically (for example, every 5 or 10 years). To preserve the comparability of the U.S. measures with those of the other economies covered, BLS uses gross product originating in manufacturing for the United States for these comparative measures. The gross product originating series differs from the manufacturing output series that BLS publishes in its news releases on quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs. The quarterly measures are on a "sectoral output" basis rather than a value-added basis. Sectoral output is gross output less intra-sector transactions. Labor Input. The total hours measures are developed from statistics of manufacturing employment and average hours. The series used for France (from 1970 forward), Norway, 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 to 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 19941996 and, therefore, the BLS measure of labor input for Denmark ends in 1993. For 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 between 1967 and 1991 to account for subsidies. Self-employed workers are included in the allemployed-persons measures by assuming that their hourly compensation is equal to the average for wage and salary employees. Current Indicators. The measures for recent years may be based on current indicators of output (such as industrial production indexes), employment, average hours, and hourly compensation until national accounts and other statistics, normally used for the long-term measures, become available. Trade-Weighted Measures. The trade weights for Canada, Japan, and the European countries were obtained by rescaling a series of weights, developed by the International Monetary Fund, based on average trade flows over the 1989-91 period. These weights are based on aggregate trade data for total manufacturing and take account of both bilateral trade and the relative importance of "third country" markets. The 1989-91 weights do not include Korea and Taiwan. BLS developed weights for Korea and Taiwan by using data from an earlier study from the International Monetary Fund and other sources. The following weights were used for the entire period for which trade-weighted unit labor cost measures are produced: Country Weight Canada 24.97 Japan 30.16 Denmark 0.47 France 5.82 Germany 11.45 Italy 4.54 Norway 0.47 Sweden 1.87 United Kingdom 8.87 Korea 5.66 Taiwan 5.72 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, which are the number of foreign currency units required to buy goods and services equivalent to what can be bought with one unit of U.S. currency. Purchasing power parities are available for total gross domestic product (GDP) from the United Nations International Comparisons Project. However, these parities are derived for expenditures made by consumers, business, and government for goods and services-not for value added by industry. Therefore, they do not provide purchasing power parities by industry. The parities for total GDP are not suitable for each component industry, such as manufacturing. Some analysts have constructed "proxy purchasing power parities" for manufacturing, using selected expenditure items from the United Nations International Comparisons Project. However, the prices used in this method have a number of shortcomings because they are based on consumer, business, and government final expenditures. The data reflect sales to final users, rather than the output of specific industries, and thus prices include indirect taxes, distribution margins, and transportation costs. Further, the purchasing power parities exclude items which, although they are outputs of the manufacturing sector (e.g. steel, paper, cement, etc.), are only intermediate inputs with respect to final sales. They also do not reflect an industry's output because they include imports and exclude exports. A different approach has been used by researchers at the International Comparisons of Output and Productivity project at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. They develop unit value ratios for matched products, based on censuses of manufactures data in the various countries. Unit values are obtained by dividing producers' sales values by quantities shipped. This procedure also has shortcomings, primarily because only a 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 counterpart in the other country; and other products cannot be matched because they represent a different mix of product varieties or because of large differences in qualities. (Footnote 2) _______________________ 1 For more information on the U. S. measure, see Robert E. Yuskavage, "Improved Estimates of Gross Product by Industry, 1959-94," Survey of Current Business, August 1996, pp. 133-55. 2 For an article based on this approach, see Bart van Ark, "Manufacturing prices, productivity, and labor costs in five economies," Monthly Labor Review, July 1995, pp. 56-72.