Full text of 2001 : Text File, USDL 02-543
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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov USDL 02-543
Technical information: (202) 691-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Thursday, September 26, 2002
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY
AND UNIT LABOR COST TRENDS, 2001
United States manufacturing output per hour increased by 1.9 percent in
2001, the fourth largest increase among the 12 countries for which comparable
data are available--the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and seven
European countries. (See table A and chart 1.) While manufacturing labor
productivity continued to grow in 10 of the 12 countries, Canada and Japan
experienced their first declines in output per hour since 1998 and 1986,
respectively. The U.S. productivity measure posted its lowest annual growth
rate since 1991. (Average annual growth rates for selected measures, years, and
periods are found in tables A and B. The complete historical index series are
shown in tables 1 through 15.)
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT:
Chart 1. Percent change in manufacturing output per hour, 2001
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Unit labor costs in manufacturing, expressed in national currency units,
increased in 11 of the 13 countries for which comparable data on unit labor
costs were available for 2001. The largest increases occurred in Canada (5.5
percent), Japan (5.2 percent), and Korea (5.2 percent). The United States and
Denmark were the only two countries where unit labor costs expressed in national
currency units decreased. (See table A and chart 2.)
Changes in exchange rates must be taken into account in order to assess
international competitiveness in manufacturing. Unlike unit labor costs in
national currency units, unit labor costs in U.S. dollars declined in 10 of the
13 countries. The largest declines occurred in Sweden (9.1 percent), Korea (7.9
percent), and Japan (6.8 percent). The sharp declines were due to the relative
strength of the U.S. dollar in 2001 against all the currencies compared. (See
table A and chart 2.)
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT:
Chart 2. Percent change in manufacturing unit labor costs, 2000-2001
Table A summarizes changes in manufacturing productivity, unit labor costs,
and related variables between 2000 and 2001. Output and unit labor cost data
are presented for 13 economies. Comparable productivity data are not shown for
Denmark, and no 2001 data are available for the Netherlands. (See technical
notes.)
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Table A. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 2000-2001
Percent changes
Output Total Hourly Unit labor costs
Country per Employ- Average compen- compen- Nation U.S. Exchange
or area hour Output Hours ment hours sation sation currency dollars rate (1)
United States 1.9 - 3.8 - 5.6 - 4.1 - 1.6 - 4.2 1.5 - 0.3 - 0.3 ---
Canada - 2.0 - 3.3 - 1.4 - 0.4 - 1.0 2.1 3.5 5.5 1.2 - 4.1
Japan - 4.5 - 7.9 - 3.5 - 2.8 - 0.8 - 3.1 0.4 5.2 - 6.8 -11.3
Korea 3.2 1.7 - 1.5 0.8 - 2.3 7.0 8.7 5.2 - 7.9 -12.5
Taiwan 5.9 - 6.0 -11.3 - 4.5 - 7.1 - 1.3 11.3 5.0 - 2.9 - 7.6
Belgium 0.5 - 0.5 - 1.0 0.4 - 1.4 2.9 4.0 3.4 0.3 - 3.0
Denmark NA 3.1 NA - 1.0 NA 3.0 NA - 0.1 - 2.9 - 2.8
France 2.7 1.7 - 0.9 1.2 - 2.1 3.8 4.8 2.1 - 1.0 - 3.0
Germany 1.0 0.1 - 0.8 0.3 - 1.1 2.3 3.2 2.2 - 0.9 - 3.0
Italy 1.7 0.7 - 1.0 0.3 - 1.3 2.7 3.8 2.0 - 1.0 - 3.0
Netherlands NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA - 3.0
Norway 0.8 - 1.2 - 2.0 - 1.6 - 0.4 3.3 5.4 4.6 2.4 - 2.0
Sweden 1.5 - 0.8 - 2.3 - 1.1 - 1.2 1.7 4.1 2.5 - 9.1 -11.3
United Kingdom 1.5 - 2.3 - 3.7 - 4.2 0.5 0.0 3.9 2.3 - 2.8 - 5.0
(1) Value of foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar.
NA=Not Available
This release examines comparative trends in manufacturing output per hour,
unit labor costs, and related measures in 2001, the most recent year for which
comparative data are available and for certain selected time periods. Annual
indexes of these variables also are estimated for the time period 1950-2001.
However, because the comparable value-added output data for U.S. manufacturing
industries are not available prior to 1977, U.S. measures of output, output per
hour, and unit labor costs begin with 1977. Also, productivity measures for
Denmark are not available after 1993 due to a lack of comparable hours data.
Data for Germany are linked to data for the former West Germany in 1991.
Table B (pages 8-12) shows average annual percent changes for selected
periods, beginning in 1979. Annual indexes of the data are in tables 1-15
(pages 19-33).
The historical series of the variables also are available at the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Division of Foreign Labor Statistics, web-site at address
http://stats.bls.gov/fls/home.htm.
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BOX: Notes about the measures
The measures in this release are based on data available to BLS as of August
2002. Revisions for 2000 and earlier years were made to the measures for
several countries to incorporate data not available at the time of the April
2002 report.
U.S. manufacturing output measure
The output measure for manufacturing in the United States is the chain-weighted
index of real gross domestic product by industry (deflated value added),
published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
This series is based on annually changing price weights.
The United States real output data through 2000 used in this report were
released by the BEA in November 2001. The estimates are described in the Survey
of Current Business, November 2001. The BLS estimate of real U.S. output for
2001 was derived by extrapolating the 2000 number forward, using the annual
growth rate of the Federal Reserve Board's Industrial Production Index for Total
Manufacturing.
The U.S. output series used for international comparisons differs from the
manufacturing series that BLS publishes as part of its major sector productivity
and costs measures for the U.S. While both series are based on annually-
changing price weights, the international comparisons program uses a value added
output concept, while the U.S. manufacturing series is on a sectoral output
basis. For information on the differences between the value added and the
sectoral output measures, see technical notes.
Germany
From 1991 forward, the estimated growth rates pertain to unified Germany and
prior to 1991 to the former West Germany. The two data series have been linked
in 1991. See technical notes for additional information.
Italy
For this release, Italian average hours worked have been revised from 1985,
based on estimates released by the Bank of Italy. This series replaces average
hours worked based on Large Firm Labor Indicators from the Italian National
Institute of Statistics. The scope of the new series is more inclusive of
smaller firms than previous estimates.
New measures of National Accounts
Member states of the European Union are in the process of implementing the
European System of Integrated National Accounts (ESA 95). Some other countries
are adopting the System of National Accounts recommended by the United Nations
(SNA 93), on which ESA 95 is based. Revisions due to these conversions to new
systems are being incorporated into the BLS estimates.
END OF BOX (Notes about the measures)
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Manufacturing productivity, output, and labor input
Labor productivity (output per hour worked) in United States manufacturing
grew 1.9 percent in 2001. This occurred even though output fell, because labor
input (as measured by total hours) declined at a faster rate (5.6 percent) than
output (3.8 percent). (See table A.)
Productivity gains in five other countries--Taiwan, Belgium, Norway, Sweden,
and the United Kingdom--were achieved by a similar combination of a drop in
output accompanied by an even larger decline in total hours worked. Korea,
France, Germany, and Italy realized productivity gains due to an increase in
output combined with a decrease in total hours worked. Productivity fell in
Canada and Japan because their declines in output were greater than their
declines in total hours worked. (See table A.)
For the 1995-2000 period, productivity grew in all 13 countries for which
these data are available. The rate of increase ranged from 11.1 percent per
year for Korea to 0.7 percent per year for Norway. Besides Korea, productivity
in the United States, Taiwan, France, and Sweden also increased more than 4.5
percent per year. (See table B.)
A comparison of the 2000-2001 growth rates with the average annual growth
rates for the 1995-2000 period indicates that productivity growth slowed or fell
in the majority of countries compared. Only Taiwan, Italy, and Norway
experienced higher productivity growth rates in 2001 than their annual average
growth for the 1995-2000 period. (See table B.)
Among the eight countries that experienced a decline in manufacturing output
in 2001, the United States had the third largest decline (3.8 percent). Only
Japan (7.9 percent) and Taiwan (6.0 percent) experienced larger declines in
output for the year. Korea and four European countries (Denmark, France,
Germany, and Italy) achieved output growth in 2001, with Denmark having the
highest growth rate at 3.1 percent. (See table A.)
During 1995-2000, manufacturing output increased in all the countries
compared; the lowest gain was 0.5 percent per year in Norway, and the highest
was 8.1 percent per year in Korea. In 2001, only Denmark's output growth rate
was higher than its 1995-2000 average. (See table B.)
Total hours worked in manufacturing declined in all 12 countries for which
data are available for 2001--ranging from 11.3 percent in Taiwan to 0.8 percent
in Germany. The 5.6 percent decline in total hours worked in U.S. manufacturing
was the result of declines both in employment (4.1 percent) and in average hours
worked (1.6 percent). The declines in total hours worked in Canada, Japan,
Taiwan, Norway, and Sweden also were caused by decreases in both employment and
in average hours worked. In Korea, Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy, the
declines in total hours worked were the result of decreases in average hours
that more than offset employment increases. Only the United Kingdom
experienced an increase in average hours; however, total hours worked also fell
in the U.K. because employment decreased more than the average hours increase.
(See table A.)
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During the 1995-2000 period, total hours worked in manufacturing declined in 8
and increased in 5 of the 13 countries for which data are available. The five
countries with increased total hours--Canada, Taiwan, Italy, the Netherlands,
and Sweden--all experienced employment growth as well. Average hours increased
in only 3 of the 13 countries--Canada, Belgium, and Sweden--during this time
period. (See table B.)
Manufacturing hourly compensation and unit labor costs
U.S. manufacturing hourly compensation increased 1.5 percent in 2001, the
second lowest rate of growth among the countries compared. Only Japan
experienced a lower rate of growth (0.4 percent) in hourly compensation on a
national currency basis than the United States. The two largest increases in
hourly compensation were in Taiwan (11.3 percent) and Korea (8.7 percent). (See
table A.)
A comparison of the 2000-2001 growth rates with the average annual growth
rates for the 1995-2000 period indicates that hourly compensation growth rates
in national currency units were higher in 2001 in eight countries. Only the
United States, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom experienced lower hourly
compensation growth rates in 2001 than their annual average for the 1995-2000
period. (See table B.)
Unit labor costs (labor compensation per unit of output), expressed in
national currency units, increased in all but two of the countries in 2001. In
the United States and Denmark, unit labor costs declined slightly. (See table A
and chart 2.)
The measure of unit labor costs is equivalent to compensation per hour divided
by output per hour. In the United States, the relatively small increase in
hourly compensation was offset by an increase in output per hour, resulting in a
modest decline in unit labor costs. Canada's increase in unit labor costs (5.5
percent) was the largest of all countries compared, due to a combination of
hourly compensation growth and falling productivity. Taiwan, in contrast, had
lower growth in unit labor costs (5.0 percent) than Canada, even though hourly
compensation in Taiwan increased by 11.3 percent. This occurred because
Taiwan's relatively strong productivity growth of 5.9 percent was able to
partially offset its high hourly compensation growth rate. (See table A.)
From 1995 to 2000, U.S. unit labor costs decreased 0.7 percent per year. In
addition to the United States, seven other countries experienced declines in
unit labor costs over this time period, measured in their own currencies. This
is in contrast to 2000-2001, where only two countries, the United States and
Denmark, realized unit labor cost declines expressed in national currency units.
(See table B.)
To compare changes in competitiveness across economies in terms of U.S.
dollars, unit labor costs in national currency units must be adjusted for
changes in the currency's exchange rate against the dollar. When a foreign
currency depreciates against the U.S. dollar, fewer dollars must be paid in
exchange for each national currency unit. This will lead to a smaller increase
or a larger decline in unit labor costs converted from the foreign currency into
U.S. dollars.
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Movements in the currency markets in 2001 had a noticeable impact on
comparative unit labor costs expressed in U.S. dollars. The U.S. dollar
appreciated against all the currencies compared in 2001. In the majority of
countries, unit labor costs fell dramatically when expressed in U.S. dollars.
In Japan, for example, unit labor costs fell from positive 5.2 percent in
national currency units to negative 6.8 percent in U.S. dollars. This was due
to an 11.3 percent drop in the yen to U.S. dollar exchange rate. (See table A
and chart 2.)
The U.S. dollar appreciated against all the currencies compared during the
1995-2000 period, causing unit labor costs to decline in all countries, except
the United Kingdom, when expressed in U.S. dollars. Competitor countries had
lower growth rates in unit labor costs in U.S. dollars in 1995-2000 than in
2000-2001. (See table B.)
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Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-2001
Average annual rates of change 1/
Country 1979-2001 1979-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2001
or area
Output per hour
United States 3.4 3.5 2.4 3.3 4.7 1.9
Canada 2.1 3.6 0.5 3.8 1.1 -2.0
Japan 3.3 3.5 4.3 3.3 3.9 -4.5
Korea NA NA 8.2 9.7 11.1 3.2
Taiwan 5.9 5.1 7.9 5.3 5.5 5.9
Belgium 3.6 6.0 2.2 3.2 3.3 0.5
Denmark NA 2.1 0.5 NA NA NA
France 3.7 3.0 3.4 4.0 4.6 2.7
Germany 2/ 2.5 2.1 2.1 3.3 2.6 1.0
Italy 2.2 3.5 1.9 2.4 0.9 1.7
Netherlands NA 4.4 2.2 3.7 2.5 NA
Norway 1.3 2.4 1.4 0.6 0.7 0.8
Sweden 3.7 3.1 1.9 5.2 5.3 1.5
United Kingdom 3.6 4.4 4.6 3.3 2.4 1.5
Output
United States 2.7 2.2 2.5 3.1 4.4 -3.8
Canada 2.4 2.0 1.8 2.4 4.5 -3.3
Japan 2.4 4.7 4.8 0.4 1.7 -7.9
Korea 8.9 8.3 12.2 8.4 8.1 1.7
Taiwan 5.9 8.2 7.0 5.0 5.7 -6.0
Belgium 2.1 2.6 2.5 0.6 3.3 -0.5
Denmark 1.7 2.9 -0.2 1.7 1.9 3.1
France 1.6 -0.4 2.6 1.1 3.4 1.7
Germany 2/ 0.7 0.2 2.3 -0.7 1.3 0.1
Italy 1.6 0.9 3.2 1.5 1.2 0.7
Netherlands NA 1.8 3.2 1.6 2.7 NA
Norway 0.1 0.6 -1.6 1.2 0.5 -1.2
Sweden 2.8 2.2 1.4 3.1 5.6 -0.8
United Kingdom 0.7 -1.2 3.4 0.4 1.0 -2.3
Continued on next page
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Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-2001
Average annual rates of change 1/
Country 1979-2001 1979-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2001
or area
Total hours
United States -0.7 -1.2 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -5.6
Canada 0.3 -1.5 1.3 -1.3 3.4 -1.4
Japan -0.9 1.1 0.5 -2.8 -2.1 -3.5
Korea NA NA 3.7 -1.2 -2.7 -1.5
Taiwan 0.0 2.9 -0.8 -0.3 0.2 -11.3
Belgium -1.4 -3.2 0.4 -2.5 -0.1 -1.0
Denmark NA 0.8 -0.6 NA NA NA
France -2.0 -3.3 -0.8 -2.7 -1.1 -0.9
Germany 2/ -1.7 -1.9 0.2 -3.9 -1.3 -0.8
Italy -0.6 -2.5 1.3 -0.9 0.3 -1.0
Netherlands NA -2.5 1.0 -2.0 0.2 NA
Norway -1.2 -1.8 -2.9 0.6 -0.2 -2.0
Sweden -0.8 -0.8 -0.5 -2.0 0.3 -2.3
United Kingdom -2.8 -5.3 -1.2 -2.8 -1.4 -3.7
Employment
United States -0.8 -1.4 -0.1 -0.6 -0.1 -4.1
Canada 0.2 -1.3 1.2 -1.5 3.0 -0.4
Japan -0.4 1.2 0.8 -1.6 -1.9 -2.8
Korea NA NA 5.4 -0.9 -2.5 0.8
Taiwan 0.8 4.1 -0.5 -0.3 0.5 -4.5
Belgium -1.4 -2.6 -0.3 -2.2 -0.6 0.4
Denmark -0.1 1.0 -0.2 -1.2 -0.3 -1.0
France -1.4 -2.3 -0.9 -2.5 -0.2 1.2
Germany 2/ -1.2 -1.1 1.1 -4.2 -0.8 0.3
Italy -1.0 -2.3 -0.2 -1.8 0.3 0.3
Netherlands NA -2.2 1.2 -2.0 0.4 NA
Norway -1.1 -1.8 -2.7 0.3 0.1 -1.6
Sweden -1.3 -1.2 -0.8 -3.5 0.1 -1.1
United Kingdom -2.6 -4.6 -0.9 -3.1 -1.0 -4.2
Continued on next page
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Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-2001
Average annual rates of change 1/
Country 1979-2001 1979-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2001
or area
Average hours
United States 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.4 -0.1 -1.6
Canada 0.1 -0.2 0.1 0.3 0.4 -1.0
Japan -0.5 0.0 -0.3 -1.3 -0.1 -0.8
Korea NA NA -1.6 -0.2 -0.1 -2.3
Taiwan -0.8 -1.1 -0.4 0.0 -0.3 -7.1
Belgium 0.0 -0.6 0.7 -0.3 0.6 -1.4
Denmark NA -0.3 -0.5 NA NA NA
France -0.6 -1.0 0.1 -0.2 -0.9 -2.1
Germany 2/ -0.5 -0.8 -0.9 0.3 -0.5 -1.1
Italy 0.5 -0.1 1.6 0.9 0.0 -1.3
Netherlands NA -0.3 -0.2 0.0 -0.2 NA
Norway -0.1 0.0 -0.2 0.3 -0.3 -0.4
Sweden 0.5 0.4 0.3 1.6 0.1 -1.2
United Kingdom -0.3 -0.8 -0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.5
Total labor compensation in manufacturing: 3/ National currency basis
United States 3.9 5.8 3.9 3.4 3.7 -4.2
Canada 5.0 7.5 5.6 2.4 4.9 2.1
Japan 2.5 5.9 5.1 0.7 -1.0 -3.1
Korea NA NA 19.9 16.8 4.1 7.0
Taiwan 9.1 15.9 10.6 6.8 4.2 -1.3
Belgium 3.1 4.7 4.0 1.3 2.0 2.9
Denmark 4.8 9.0 4.6 2.3 3.1 3.0
France 3.8 9.1 3.6 1.1 0.8 3.8
Germany 2/ 3.2 4.0 5.2 2.3 1.2 2.3
Italy 7.1 13.0 8.2 4.0 3.1 2.7
Netherlands NA 2.3 3.1 1.9 3.6 NA
Norway 5.4 8.0 4.7 4.0 4.9 3.3
Sweden 5.7 8.9 7.9 1.9 4.6 1.7
United Kingdom 4.8 6.2 8.1 2.5 3.2 0.0
Continued on next page
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Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-2001
Average annual rates of change 1/
Country 1979-2001 1979-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2001
or area
Hourly compensation: 3/ National currency basis
United States 4.6 7.2 3.9 3.5 4.0 1.5
Canada 4.7 9.1 4.2 3.7 1.4 3.5
Japan 3.4 4.7 4.6 3.7 1.1 0.4
Korea NA NA 15.6 18.2 6.9 8.7
Taiwan 9.0 12.6 11.5 7.1 4.0 11.3
Belgium 4.6 8.1 3.7 3.9 2.1 4.0
Denmark NA 8.1 5.3 NA NA NA
France 5.9 12.8 4.5 3.9 1.9 4.8
Germany 2/ 5.0 6.0 5.0 6.4 2.6 3.2
Italy 7.7 15.9 6.8 4.9 2.8 3.8
Netherlands NA 5.0 2.1 4.0 3.4 NA
Norway 6.7 10.0 7.8 3.4 5.1 5.4
Sweden 6.6 9.8 8.4 3.9 4.3 4.1
United Kingdom 7.9 12.2 9.4 5.4 4.6 3.9
Unit labor costs: National currency basis
United States 1.2 3.6 1.4 0.2 -0.7 -0.3
Canada 2.6 5.3 3.7 -0.1 0.4 5.5
Japan 0.1 1.1 0.3 0.4 -2.6 5.2
Korea NA NA 6.9 7.8 -3.7 5.2
Taiwan 2.9 7.1 3.4 1.7 -1.5 5.0
Belgium 0.9 2.0 1.5 0.7 -1.2 3.4
Denmark 3.1 5.9 4.8 0.6 1.1 -0.1
France 2.2 9.5 1.0 -0.1 -2.6 2.1
Germany 2/ 2.4 3.8 2.8 3.1 -0.1 2.2
Italy 5.4 12.0 4.8 2.4 1.9 2.0
Netherlands NA 0.5 -0.1 0.3 0.9 NA
Norway 5.3 7.4 6.4 2.8 4.3 4.6
Sweden 2.8 6.5 6.4 -1.2 -0.9 2.5
United Kingdom 4.1 7.5 4.5 2.1 2.2 2.3
Continued on next page
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Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related
measures
Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-2001
Average annual rates of change 1/
Country 1979-2001 1979-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2001
or area
Unit labor costs: U.S. dollar basis
United States 1.2 3.6 1.4 0.2 -0.7 -0.3
Canada 1.3 2.7 7.0 -3.3 -1.2 1.2
Japan 2.8 -0.3 10.8 9.5 -5.3 -6.8
Korea NA NA 11.1 6.0 -10.8 -7.9
Taiwan 3.2 5.3 11.8 2.0 -4.7 -2.9
Belgium -1.0 -9.3 13.8 3.3 -8.7 0.3
Denmark 0.9 -5.8 16.7 2.7 -6.1 -2.9
France -0.3 -3.3 11.6 1.7 -9.2 -1.0
Germany 2/ 1.6 -4.1 15.9 5.6 -7.6 -0.9
Italy 0.9 -2.5 15.1 -3.7 -3.1 -1.0
Netherlands NA -7.6 12.7 2.9 -6.8 NA
Norway 2.5 -1.7 13.3 2.5 -2.3 2.4
Sweden -1.2 -5.2 14.7 -4.8 -5.8 -9.1
United Kingdom 2.3 -1.0 11.4 -0.4 1.3 -2.8
Exchange rates 4/
United States 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Canada -1.3 -2.5 3.2 -3.2 -1.6 -4.1
Japan 2.7 -1.5 10.5 9.1 -2.7 -11.3
Korea -4.4 -9.2 3.9 -1.7 -7.3 -12.5
Taiwan 0.3 -1.7 8.2 0.3 -3.3 -7.6
Belgium -1.9 -11.1 12.2 2.5 -7.6 -3.0
Denmark -2.1 -11.0 11.4 2.0 -7.1 -2.8
France -2.4 -11.7 10.5 1.8 -6.8 -3.0
Germany 2/ -0.8 -7.6 12.7 2.5 -7.5 -3.0
Italy -4.3 -12.9 9.8 -6.0 -4.9 -3.0
Netherlands -0.9 -8.0 12.7 2.6 -7.6 -3.0
Norway -2.6 -8.4 6.6 -0.3 -6.4 -2.0
Sweden -3.9 -11.0 7.8 -3.7 -4.9 -11.3
United Kingdom -1.7 -7.9 6.6 -2.4 -0.8 -5.0
1/ Rates of change based on the compound rate method.
2/ Data for years before 1991 pertain to the former West Germany.
3/ Adjusted to include employment taxes that are not compensation to
employees but are labor costs to employers.
4/ Value of foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar.
NA = Not available.
-13-
Trade-weighted unit labor costs
To take account of differences in the relative importance of foreign economies
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. In chart 3, the period begins in 1979, a year in which
U.S. manufacturing output reached a business cycle peak.
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT:
Chart 3. U.S. manufacturing unit labor costs relative to 11 competitors, 1979-
2001
The construction of the trade-weighted indexes 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; the weights reflect each country's importance in terms of U.S. trade
in manufactured goods. 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 U.S. 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. In this release, the relative U.S. trade-weighted indexes
are estimated against 11 economies for which comparable data are available over
this period; the indexes underlying this chart are shown in table C.
In chart 3, the solid line indicates that U.S. unit labor costs rose faster
than "competitors" costs from 1979 to 1986 on a U.S. dollar basis. In most
years from 1986 to 1995, U.S. costs either rose at a slower rate than the
"competitors" costs or fell at a faster rate. From 1996 to 1998, however, the
strength of the U.S. dollar caused relative U.S. unit labor costs to rise.
After a dip in 1999, the index of relative U.S. unit labor costs rose again in
2000 and 2001.
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Table C. U.S. manufacturing unit labor
costs relative to 11 competitors, 1979-2001
Unit Labor Costs Unit Labor Costs
National Currency Basis U.S. Dollar Basis
Year Own Competitors' Own Competitors'
Index Index Ratio Index Index Ratio
1979 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1980 111.4 110.7 100.6 111.4 110.4 100.9
1981 116.5 119.1 97.8 116.5 109.9 106.0
1982 124.2 126.8 98.0 124.2 105.8 117.5
1983 121.6 128.7 94.4 121.6 104.6 116.3
1984 121.0 129.7 93.3 121.0 99.5 121.6
1985 123.4 131.2 94.0 123.4 97.8 126.2
1986 128.9 137.4 93.8 128.9 124.3 103.7
1987 122.8 139.3 88.1 122.8 142.9 85.9
1988 122.5 139.1 88.1 122.5 153.8 79.7
1989 128.0 142.1 90.0 128.0 151.9 84.3
1990 132.4 148.2 89.3 132.4 164.1 80.7
1991 138.0 153.9 89.7 138.0 173.7 79.5
1992 141.3 157.2 89.9 141.3 181.5 77.9
1993 142.3 157.8 90.2 142.3 177.8 80.0
1994 139.2 155.3 89.6 139.2 177.9 78.2
1995 134.0 154.7 86.6 134.0 187.1 71.6
1996 132.1 155.8 84.8 132.1 178.8 73.9
1997 129.9 153.9 84.4 129.9 164.4 79.0
1998 131.2 156.1 84.0 131.2 157.7 83.2
1999 127.5 153.9 82.9 127.5 160.6 79.4
2000 129.7 149.3 86.9 129.7 151.7 85.5
2001 129.2 155.5 83.1 129.2 147.7 87.5
-15-
TECHNICAL NOTES
Labor productivity is defined as real output per hour worked.
Although the labor productivity measure presented in this release
relates output to the hours worked 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 workforce.
Unit labor costs are defined as the cost of labor input required to
produce one unit of output. They are computed as labor compensation in
nominal terms divided by real output.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics constructs trend indexes of
manufacturing labor productivity, 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 employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy,
and Taiwan. For all other countries, the measures refer to all employed
persons, including employees, self-employed persons, and unpaid family
workers. 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 Denmark include mining and exclude manufacturing
handicrafts from 1960 to 1966 and the measures for France include parts
of mining.
The comparisons in this release make use of data made available to
BLS as of August 2002 by the statistical agencies of the individual
countries. For some countries, the data for the most recent years are
based on the European System of Integrated National Accounts (ESA 95) or
on the United Nations System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA 93). For
other countries, data were compiled according to previously used
systems.
To obtain historical time series, BLS may link together data series
which were compiled according to different accounting systems by the
countries' statistical agencies.
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 manufacturing value added measures for the
United Kingdom are essentially identical to their indexes of industrial
production.
The output measure for manufacturing in the United States is the
chain-weighted index of real gross product originating (deflated value
added), introduced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S.
Department of Commerce in August 1996. U.S. gross product originating
is a chain-type annual-weighted series. Because these value added
output data for U.S. manufacturing industries are not available for
years prior to 1977, the comparative U.S. measures of output, output per
hour, and unit labor costs begin with 1977. For more information on the
U.S. measure, see Sherlene K.S. Lum, Brian C. Moyer, and Robert E.
Yuskavage, "Improved Estimates of Gross Product by Industry for 1947-
98," Survey of Current Business, June 2000, pp. 24-38.
-16-
The gross product originating series differs from the manufacturing
output series that BLS publishes as part of its major sector
productivity and costs program. While both series are based on
annually-changing price weights, the gross product originating series is
on a value added basis rather than the sectoral output basis used in the
official U.S. manufacturing productivity series. Sectoral output is
gross output less intrasector sales and transfers. For information on
sectoral output, see William Gullickson, "Measurement of productivity
growth in U.S. manufacturing," Monthly Labor Review, July 1995, pp. 13-
28.
A value added concept has been used for the international comparisons
series because the data are more readily available from the countries'
national accounts, whereas sectoral output would require a complex
estimation procedure. Also, although BLS has determined that sectoral
output is the correct concept for U.S. measures of productivity, there
are other considerations that may make value added a better concept for
international comparisons of labor productivity, such as differences
among countries in the extent of vertical integration of industries.
Estimation of manufacturing real output using moving price weights is
becoming prevalent. For example, the output measure for manufacturing
in the United States is the chain-weighted index of real gross product
originating, based on annually changing price weights. However, many
earlier time periods within the historical real output series have been
estimated using fixed price weights, with the weights updated
periodically (for example, every 5 or 10 years).
Measures of real output also may differ among countries because of
different approaches to estimating the prices of high-technology
products like computers and, in general, of products that undergo rapid
quality change.
Labor Input. The aggregate hours worked series used for France (from
1970 forward), Norway, Sweden, and Canada are series published with the
national accounts. For the former West Germany after 1959 and Germany
from 1991, BLS uses aggregate hours worked, which were developed by a
research institute of the German Ministry of Labor for use with the
national accounts employment figures. For the United Kingdom from 1992,
an index of total manufacturing hours is used, derived from published
quarterly indices of manufacturing hours. For all other countries, the
U.K. before 1992, and the former West Germany before 1959, BLS
constructs its own estimates of aggregate hours, using employment
figures published with the national accounts, or other comprehensive
employment series, and estimates of average annual hours worked.
Compensation (Labor Cost). The compensation measures are from national
accounts data. Compensation includes employer expenditures for legally
required insurance programs and contractual and private benefit plans,
in addition to all payments made in cash or in kind directly to
employees. For Canada, France, and Sweden, compensation is increased to
account for important taxes on payroll or employment. For the United
Kingdom, compensation is reduced between 1967 and 1991 to account for
subsidies. When data for the self-employed are not available, total
compensation is estimated by assuming the same hourly compensation for
self-employed and employees. In this release, French compensation data
have been revised from 1992 forward. Real compensation for the U.S. is
derived using the Consumer Price Index research series (CPI-U-RS).
-17-
Data for Germany. The average annual growth rates for Germany pertain
to unified Germany from 1991 forward and to the former West Germany for
prior years. The data series are linked in 1991. In the historic data
tables, separate index series are shown for unified Germany and for
former West Germany. The West German estimates end with 1998, the last
year for which the German Statistical Office has published the necessary
underlying data. These estimates have not been updated or revised by
BLS since they were published in the news release USDL 99-235, on Aug.
27, 1999.
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 re-scaling 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 Taiwan. BLS developed weights for Taiwan by
using data from an earlier study from the International Monetary Fund
and other sources. The weight used for Germany is based on the trade
weight of the former West Germany.
The following weights were used for the entire period for which
trade-weighted unit labor cost measures are produced:
Country Weight Country Weight
Canada 25.90 Italy 4.71
Japan 31.27 Norway 0.49
Belgium 2.19 Sweden 1.94
Denmark 0.49 United Kingdom 9.19
France 6.04 Taiwan 5.93
Germany 11.88
Level Comparisons. The BLS measures are limited to trend comparisons.
BLS does not prepare level comparisons of manufacturing productivity and
unit labor costs because of data limitations and technical problems in
comparing the levels of manufacturing output among countries. Each
country measures manufacturing output in its own currency units. To
compare outputs among countries, a common unit of measure is needed.
Market exchange rates are not suitable as a basis for comparing output
levels. What is needed are purchasing power parities, which are the
number of foreign currency units required to buy goods and services
equivalent to what can be bought with one unit of U.S. currency.
Purchasing power parities are available for total gross domestic
product (GDP) from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD). However, these parities are derived for
expenditures made by consumers, business, and government for goods and
services--not for value added by industry. Therefore, they do not
provide purchasing power parities by industry. The parities developed
for total GDP are not suitable for each component industry, such as
manufacturing.
-18-
European exchange rates. On Jan. 1, 1999, 11 European countries joined
the European Monetary Union (EMU). Greece joined on Jan. 1, 2001.
Currencies of EMU members are established at fixed conversion rates to
the euro, the official currency of the EMU. Exchange rates between the
national currencies of EMU countries and the U.S. dollar are no longer
reported; only the exchange rate between the euro and the U.S. dollar is
available.
Beginning with 1999, exchange rates in national currencies for
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands are calculated by
taking the number of euros per U.S. dollar and then converting euros
into national currencies at fixed conversion rates.
1 euro equals: 40.3399 Belgian francs 1936.27 Italian lire
6.55957 French francs 2.20371 Netherlands guilders
1.95583 German marks
The currency exchange rates cited in this publication are annual
averages of daily buying rates in New York City.
- 19 -
Table 1. Output per hour in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 26.0 NA NA NA NA 22.6 13.5 NA 13.2 13.5 11.2 24.9 19.5 24.5
1955 NA 31.9 8.6 NA NA NA 24.6 16.9 NA 19.7 18.8 14.4 29.0 21.3 26.5
1960 NA 37.8 13.8 NA NA 18.0 29.9 22.0 NA 29.2 23.6 18.5 37.4 27.3 30.0
1961 NA 39.8 15.6 NA NA 18.2 31.6 23.4 NA 30.6 25.5 19.5 38.7 28.7 30.1
1962 NA 42.7 16.4 NA NA 19.2 33.2 24.9 NA 32.8 28.2 20.2 38.7 30.9 30.7
1963 NA 44.5 17.7 NA NA 19.9 34.3 26.2 NA 34.1 29.0 21.1 40.7 32.7 32.4
1964 NA 46.3 20.1 NA NA 21.2 37.1 28.2 NA 37.1 29.3 23.0 43.0 35.5 34.5
1965 NA 48.6 21.0 NA NA 22.3 38.9 30.2 NA 39.3 32.6 24.5 45.6 38.2 35.5
1966 NA 49.5 23.0 NA NA 23.8 40.9 32.6 NA 40.9 35.4 26.2 47.5 39.8 36.7
1967 NA 50.0 26.0 NA NA 25.1 43.8 34.7 NA 43.4 37.2 28.1 49.2 43.2 38.4
1968 NA 52.7 29.1 NA NA 27.3 47.9 38.3 NA 47.0 40.1 31.6 52.2 47.2 41.3
1969 NA 55.4 33.4 NA NA 29.9 49.8 40.7 NA 50.4 41.6 34.7 57.1 50.9 42.3
1970 NA 54.9 37.5 NA NA 32.9 52.7 43.1 NA 52.0 44.3 37.9 58.8 52.2 43.2
1971 NA 58.2 39.8 NA NA 35.1 56.3 45.6 NA 54.0 45.0 40.1 60.6 54.5 45.4
1972 NA 61.3 43.6 NA NA 39.2 60.9 47.7 NA 57.4 47.8 43.3 63.7 57.2 47.9
1973 NA 65.2 47.6 NA 33.1 43.5 67.0 51.1 NA 61.1 52.1 48.0 67.6 61.4 51.4
1974 NA 66.2 48.8 NA 32.0 45.8 69.2 52.2 NA 63.2 55.3 51.5 70.2 64.0 52.2
1975 NA 63.4 50.2 NA 33.7 47.6 76.1 54.0 NA 65.9 52.3 50.9 69.5 65.0 51.1
1976 NA 68.8 53.2 NA 36.7 52.4 78.9 57.3 NA 70.6 59.8 56.4 71.1 66.0 53.3
1977 68.3 72.4 55.3 NA 38.5 55.0 80.5 60.7 NA 72.7 61.7 61.0 72.2 65.0 53.8
1978 69.2 73.8 57.5 NA 43.4 58.3 81.6 63.4 NA 75.2 64.9 65.0 73.5 66.8 54.6
1979 70.1 73.9 62.2 NA 45.1 61.4 85.6 66.4 NA 78.4 71.1 68.1 78.9 72.0 55.0
1980 70.5 72.9 63.2 NA 47.7 65.4 90.4 66.8 NA 77.2 74.2 68.8 77.5 73.1 54.3
1981 74.1 76.5 65.2 NA 52.8 70.1 91.9 68.7 NA 78.7 73.8 70.4 77.2 72.7 57.1
1982 76.2 77.1 67.9 NA 54.1 73.5 92.2 73.5 NA 78.8 74.0 71.6 80.5 75.4 60.2
1983 80.0 81.9 68.8 NA 57.5 81.0 96.7 75.2 NA 82.6 75.7 77.3 83.2 80.9 65.0
1984 83.2 88.8 71.1 NA 59.1 85.0 96.2 76.4 NA 85.4 81.9 84.9 88.3 85.2 68.4
1985 86.0 91.1 76.5 54.9 60.9 87.0 96.8 79.3 NA 89.1 87.4 88.5 91.1 86.2 71.1
1986 86.0 87.6 76.1 58.9 66.6 87.8 91.2 80.6 NA 89.6 87.9 90.2 89.8 87.5 73.9
1987 92.9 87.8 80.2 63.2 72.8 88.9 90.7 82.1 NA 88.1 89.3 91.0 94.2 89.2 78.1
1988 96.9 89.6 83.9 68.7 76.4 92.0 94.1 87.7 NA 91.5 93.9 93.1 93.1 90.5 82.6
1989 95.7 92.5 88.5 73.2 83.1 96.9 99.7 92.2 NA 94.6 95.5 96.9 95.5 93.2 86.2
1990 96.9 93.4 94.4 81.3 88.9 96.8 99.1 93.8 NA 99.0 95.8 98.5 97.6 94.6 89.2
1991 97.9 95.3 99.0 91.4 96.6 99.1 99.4 97.0 98.3 101.9 95.9 99.6 98.2 95.5 93.8
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.1 105.8 101.7 108.1 102.9 102.5 100.8 100.6 101.8 100.6 101.4 101.6 99.6 107.3 103.9
1994 107.3 110.8 103.3 118.0 106.7 108.4 NA 108.2 109.5 107.9 104.9 113.2 99.6 119.4 107.1
1995 113.8 112.4 111.0 129.2 115.1 113.2 NA 113.9 112.2 111.2 108.0 118.2 100.7 121.9 104.9
1996 117.0 109.7 116.1 142.5 123.1 117.0 NA 114.6 113.9 115.1 108.1 120.2 102.5 124.5 103.8
1997 121.3 113.5 121.0 163.3 129.2 127.0 NA 121.9 119.4 121.8 109.9 122.3 102.0 132.3 105.2
1998 126.5 113.1 121.2 182.9 135.8 129.2 NA 127.7 120.3 127.1 110.0 125.0 99.9 139.5 107.0
1999 135.3 116.0 126.9 202.3 143.1 129.5 NA 132.7 120.4 NA 109.9 128.5 103.6 149.7 111.6
2000 142.9 118.4 134.1 218.4 150.6 133.4 NA 142.5 127.9 NA 113.0 133.8 104.5 158.0 118.0
2001 145.6 116.1 128.1 225.5 159.6 134.1 NA 146.3 129.2 NA 115.0 NA 105.3 160.4 119.8
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 20 -
Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 28.3 NA NA NA NA 31.8 16.2 NA 19.2 14.2 14.6 32.6 25.3 30.1
1955 NA 33.4 10.3 NA NA NA 34.0 20.3 NA 28.8 20.3 18.7 38.0 27.5 32.9
1960 NA 39.3 17.1 NA NA 22.6 39.2 26.6 NA 38.4 25.7 24.4 47.1 33.3 36.5
1961 NA 41.3 19.1 NA NA 22.9 40.2 28.3 NA 39.6 27.5 24.7 48.0 34.7 36.2
1962 NA 44.6 19.6 NA NA 24.1 42.6 30.1 NA 41.3 29.5 25.4 47.9 37.1 36.6
1963 NA 46.6 21.0 NA NA 25.0 43.3 31.7 NA 42.4 30.4 26.3 50.1 38.9 38.5
1964 NA 48.7 23.7 NA NA 26.5 47.2 34.0 NA 46.1 30.7 28.5 53.3 41.8 41.4
1965 NA 51.1 24.3 NA NA 27.4 49.5 36.0 NA 48.7 33.1 30.3 55.2 44.5 42.0
1966 NA 51.6 26.8 NA NA 29.1 51.0 39.2 NA 50.0 36.4 32.1 57.6 46.4 42.6
1967 NA 52.2 30.4 NA NA 30.3 54.1 41.2 NA 51.7 38.7 34.4 59.2 49.5 44.3
1968 NA 55.0 33.9 NA NA 33.0 57.7 44.2 NA 56.6 41.8 37.9 61.3 52.9 48.0
1969 NA 57.5 38.3 NA NA 35.7 59.3 48.2 NA 60.7 43.0 41.1 65.5 56.1 49.1
1970 NA 56.7 42.6 NA NA 38.3 60.8 50.5 NA 62.4 44.9 44.0 67.0 57.4 49.4
1971 NA 59.9 44.5 NA NA 40.2 64.7 52.9 NA 63.4 44.3 46.2 68.3 59.8 50.7
1972 NA 63.1 48.5 NA NA 43.9 68.4 54.8 NA 66.6 46.8 49.2 70.7 61.1 52.9
1973 NA 66.6 52.4 NA 36.9 47.6 71.3 57.8 NA 70.4 51.7 53.4 74.6 64.4 57.5
1974 NA 67.1 51.5 NA 34.4 48.7 75.1 58.3 NA 71.4 52.9 55.6 76.4 66.5 56.6
1975 NA 63.5 51.8 NA 37.1 48.0 80.0 58.5 NA 72.5 49.1 53.8 75.2 66.2 55.2
1976 NA 69.0 56.5 NA 40.5 53.8 83.3 62.3 NA 79.9 56.2 59.6 74.9 66.4 58.1
1977 67.1 72.6 58.9 NA 42.6 56.1 84.2 65.4 NA 81.1 57.7 64.2 74.8 64.9 59.0
1978 67.9 74.5 61.5 NA 47.5 59.4 84.4 67.7 NA 82.8 60.6 67.7 74.6 64.9 59.6
1979 68.4 74.2 67.0 NA 49.2 62.6 88.5 70.8 NA 86.0 65.8 70.2 78.7 69.0 59.8
1980 67.9 72.6 68.0 NA 52.1 65.6 94.0 71.2 NA 83.5 68.9 71.3 77.8 69.3 57.4
1981 71.4 75.4 69.7 NA 54.9 68.7 94.3 72.3 NA 84.1 68.4 73.3 77.6 69.3 59.2
1982 72.1 75.4 72.3 NA 56.2 73.7 96.1 74.2 NA 83.7 68.5 75.4 80.2 72.1 62.9
1983 77.8 81.2 73.4 NA 59.8 79.2 102.2 75.6 NA 87.9 70.0 81.5 83.3 78.3 67.8
1984 82.0 87.9 76.6 NA 61.9 82.5 101.3 76.9 NA 90.9 75.9 88.1 88.2 84.0 71.4
1985 84.9 90.7 82.1 60.7 62.0 85.7 98.5 79.4 NA 93.1 80.2 89.5 90.7 84.4 73.8
1986 84.8 87.7 81.2 66.3 69.0 86.5 94.9 80.9 NA 93.0 83.1 90.9 89.5 85.3 76.4
1987 92.1 88.6 86.0 70.0 75.4 88.4 92.3 82.8 NA 91.3 86.9 91.2 91.6 88.0 80.9
1988 96.9 92.3 90.9 74.2 78.2 93.0 95.8 88.8 NA 94.4 92.0 94.0 91.2 89.1 85.7
1989 95.7 93.2 94.8 76.0 83.8 97.5 100.2 93.1 NA 96.2 94.7 97.3 94.1 91.5 89.0
1990 96.3 93.6 99.7 83.2 88.8 98.5 98.5 94.3 NA 98.8 95.0 98.8 96.0 93.9 91.3
1991 96.6 95.1 102.2 92.7 96.6 99.2 99.1 96.5 94.7 101.0 96.0 99.7 97.2 94.7 93.9
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 103.4 106.9 99.6 108.3 102.9 100.9 100.0 100.5 99.4 97.6 99.8 101.5 99.9 110.0 104.9
1994 109.7 113.0 101.4 119.0 107.0 109.7 110.2 108.2 107.8 104.7 106.9 113.2 100.1 127.3 109.6
1995 115.6 114.1 109.7 130.5 114.9 113.3 113.7 113.1 110.5 107.3 112.2 118.4 100.3 131.2 109.1
1996 118.7 112.2 115.4 141.7 122.7 117.6 108.5 113.9 110.3 109.3 110.9 120.3 101.5 134.2 108.4
1997 123.9 116.0 119.6 160.1 129.2 127.7 118.1 120.8 115.9 116.0 114.2 122.0 100.8 142.9 109.3
1998 128.1 116.2 117.3 172.2 133.2 130.2 117.5 126.3 117.2 122.3 113.5 124.4 99.1 150.9 110.3
1999 137.9 120.4 122.5 205.7 141.2 132.8 118.0 130.5 116.8 NA 113.8 127.8 103.1 162.2 114.5
2000 144.4 122.7 131.6 219.2 148.4 137.2 126.9 135.4 123.0 NA 117.6 133.0 102.5 171.2 120.8
2001 144.8 119.1 124.7 221.1 146.0 136.0 132.1 136.1 122.8 NA 118.1 NA 102.9 171.7 123.2
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 21 -
Table 3. Output in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 NA 22.0 2.2 NA NA NA 26.8 18.4 NA 14.5 10.1 16.7 38.8 30.9 49.6
1955 NA 28.5 4.9 NA NA NA 29.5 22.9 NA 27.5 15.6 22.8 47.5 35.7 58.3
1960 NA 33.4 10.7 NA NA 30.7 40.8 31.0 NA 41.5 23.0 31.5 57.4 45.9 67.3
1961 NA 34.7 12.9 NA NA 32.1 43.0 33.3 NA 44.0 25.4 32.6 59.8 49.0 67.6
1962 NA 38.6 14.0 NA NA 34.6 46.7 35.7 NA 46.2 28.1 34.2 60.3 52.8 67.7
1963 NA 41.2 15.6 NA NA 36.2 47.3 38.4 NA 47.1 29.9 35.7 63.9 55.4 70.2
1964 NA 45.1 18.1 NA NA 39.5 52.9 42.0 NA 51.2 30.3 39.0 68.4 60.3 76.5
1965 NA 49.5 18.8 NA NA 40.8 56.4 44.1 NA 55.0 31.9 41.7 72.0 64.5 78.7
1966 NA 52.9 21.3 NA NA 43.2 57.6 48.1 NA 55.9 34.8 44.0 76.3 66.3 80.1
1967 NA 53.9 25.6 NA NA 43.7 58.2 50.4 NA 54.7 38.3 45.7 78.8 68.5 80.6
1968 NA 57.0 29.5 NA NA 46.7 62.7 53.2 NA 60.3 41.8 50.1 80.7 72.0 86.6
1969 NA 60.7 34.4 NA NA 52.2 66.1 59.6 NA 67.4 44.5 54.9 86.6 77.7 89.9
1970 NA 58.9 39.2 7.0 12.7 57.6 68.0 64.1 NA 70.9 48.1 59.1 90.6 80.7 90.2
1971 NA 62.5 41.0 8.3 15.5 60.1 69.4 68.1 NA 71.6 48.8 61.1 92.9 81.2 89.3
1972 NA 67.9 44.7 9.5 18.9 64.7 75.4 71.3 NA 73.8 51.5 62.7 97.2 81.7 91.2
1973 NA 74.9 50.4 12.3 22.3 70.6 79.5 76.7 NA 78.5 58.1 67.2 102.8 87.5 99.7
1974 NA 76.5 49.1 14.3 21.0 73.4 80.8 78.2 NA 77.7 61.8 69.7 106.3 92.2 98.4
1975 NA 70.4 46.6 16.2 22.0 67.9 78.8 76.6 NA 74.1 58.3 65.1 104.0 92.5 91.6
1976 NA 76.4 50.6 19.9 27.0 73.0 82.6 81.1 NA 79.8 66.9 69.1 103.5 92.5 93.3
1977 72.5 78.8 52.2 22.8 30.6 73.3 83.0 84.8 NA 81.3 69.3 72.5 103.5 87.2 95.2
1978 76.5 83.2 53.7 27.5 37.1 74.3 82.7 86.8 NA 82.8 72.7 74.8 101.4 84.9 95.7
1979 79.0 85.9 58.4 30.1 40.0 76.2 87.4 89.3 NA 87.1 80.3 76.7 105.5 90.3 95.5
1980 75.8 83.6 60.4 29.9 44.0 78.2 91.4 88.7 NA 85.3 84.4 76.8 104.4 90.7 87.2
1981 79.2 86.6 62.6 32.7 47.3 77.2 88.5 87.3 NA 84.4 81.8 77.0 102.5 88.0 81.8
1982 74.6 78.7 64.6 34.6 48.5 80.4 89.9 88.2 NA 81.5 80.2 76.1 102.0 88.3 81.7
1983 79.2 82.5 66.6 39.5 54.1 84.6 95.9 88.0 NA 82.7 79.6 78.5 100.6 93.9 83.5
1984 87.6 91.8 71.0 46.0 62.2 87.2 100.4 87.0 NA 85.2 82.2 83.0 105.5 101.3 86.5
1985 90.0 96.9 76.7 48.8 64.3 89.1 103.6 87.3 NA 88.3 84.9 85.4 109.2 102.9 89.0
1986 88.6 96.8 75.5 57.9 74.7 89.1 103.6 87.3 NA 89.7 86.4 87.6 108.9 104.0 90.2
1987 96.4 100.7 79.0 68.5 84.3 88.8 99.4 87.2 NA 88.0 89.0 88.8 111.5 106.6 94.5
1988 103.2 108.5 85.3 76.7 87.7 93.3 100.9 92.2 NA 90.9 95.0 92.1 106.1 109.8 101.4
1989 102.4 111.3 90.9 79.4 90.8 99.1 104.4 97.2 NA 94.0 98.3 96.6 102.1 110.9 105.5
1990 101.6 106.0 97.1 86.7 90.0 101.0 102.8 99.1 NA 99.1 99.4 99.9 100.9 110.1 105.4
1991 98.3 99.0 102.0 95.0 96.1 100.7 101.5 99.8 102.3 102.8 99.3 100.4 99.0 104.1 100.0
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 103.5 105.9 96.3 105.4 102.4 97.0 95.6 95.7 92.4 91.8 96.5 98.4 101.7 101.9 101.4
1994 111.1 114.1 94.9 116.8 108.5 101.4 105.6 100.3 95.1 93.5 102.4 104.6 104.6 117.1 106.1
1995 118.4 119.6 98.9 129.9 114.9 104.2 111.6 104.9 95.2 93.7 107.2 108.1 107.3 128.4 107.8
1996 121.3 119.6 103.0 138.7 120.3 106.6 106.7 104.6 92.5 92.5 105.4 108.7 110.3 131.1 108.5
1997 127.9 127.7 106.5 147.8 128.3 113.8 115.2 109.7 95.7 95.8 108.8 111.5 114.2 138.0 109.9
1998 133.1 132.8 100.2 136.8 132.6 116.4 115.7 115.0 97.2 100.7 110.7 114.8 113.7 147.6 110.8
1999 141.2 141.0 101.9 165.6 141.5 118.0 115.1 118.7 95.8 NA 110.5 118.1 113.6 157.8 111.1
2000 147.0 148.8 107.6 191.9 151.8 122.2 122.9 124.1 101.7 NA 113.9 123.7 110.2 168.7 113.3
2001 141.3 143.9 99.1 195.2 142.6 121.7 126.7 126.3 101.8 NA 114.6 NA 108.9 167.4 110.7
NA: Not Available
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 22 -
Table 4. Total hours in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 85.5 84.8 NA NA NA NA 118.7 136.8 NA 109.8 75.0 148.5 155.6 158.5 202.2
1955 94.6 89.4 57.0 NA NA NA 119.8 135.7 NA 139.6 83.1 158.9 163.7 167.3 220.2
1960 92.1 88.3 77.8 NA NA 170.7 136.5 140.8 NA 142.3 97.6 170.5 153.6 168.3 224.6
1961 89.7 87.2 82.4 NA NA 175.9 136.2 142.5 NA 143.9 99.6 167.0 154.5 171.0 224.7
1962 93.4 90.3 85.2 NA NA 180.3 140.7 143.6 NA 140.8 99.5 169.0 155.8 170.8 220.3
1963 94.4 92.6 87.9 NA NA 181.8 138.0 146.9 NA 138.1 103.2 169.3 156.9 169.1 216.6
1964 96.4 97.2 90.0 NA NA 186.5 142.6 148.7 NA 138.0 103.5 169.8 159.2 169.6 221.7
1965 102.0 101.9 89.8 NA NA 183.2 144.9 146.0 NA 140.0 97.7 170.2 158.1 168.8 221.5
1966 108.6 106.8 92.8 NA NA 181.5 140.8 147.5 NA 136.7 98.2 168.2 160.8 166.5 218.2
1967 108.0 107.9 98.3 NA NA 173.6 132.7 145.4 NA 125.9 102.8 162.5 160.1 158.4 209.8
1968 109.6 108.2 101.4 NA NA 170.9 130.9 138.9 NA 128.3 104.2 158.6 154.6 152.6 209.6
1969 110.9 109.7 103.0 NA NA 174.9 132.7 146.5 NA 133.8 107.0 158.3 151.7 152.5 212.4
1970 104.4 107.1 104.4 NA NA 174.7 129.0 148.5 NA 136.3 108.5 156.1 153.9 154.7 208.8
1971 100.5 107.4 103.1 NA NA 171.4 123.3 149.2 NA 132.5 108.4 152.3 153.4 149.1 196.9
1972 105.1 110.8 102.6 NA NA 165.2 123.8 149.5 NA 128.7 107.7 144.8 152.6 142.9 190.5
1973 110.4 114.9 106.0 NA 67.4 162.1 118.8 150.2 NA 128.4 111.4 140.0 152.1 142.5 194.1
1974 107.9 115.5 100.6 NA 65.6 160.4 116.7 149.8 NA 122.9 111.8 135.2 151.5 144.0 188.5
1975 97.2 111.1 92.8 NA 65.1 142.6 103.5 141.8 NA 112.5 111.4 128.1 149.6 142.3 179.3
1976 101.9 111.1 95.1 NA 73.7 139.4 104.7 141.5 NA 113.1 111.9 122.5 145.5 140.2 175.1
1977 106.1 108.8 94.4 NA 79.3 133.3 103.1 139.7 NA 111.8 112.3 119.0 143.2 134.2 176.9
1978 110.6 112.8 93.4 NA 85.5 127.4 101.4 136.8 NA 110.1 112.0 115.1 137.9 127.1 175.4
1979 112.7 116.2 93.8 NA 88.7 124.2 102.1 134.4 NA 111.0 112.9 112.5 133.7 125.5 173.7
1980 107.5 114.6 95.6 NA 92.3 119.7 101.1 132.9 NA 110.5 113.8 111.7 134.7 124.0 160.5
1981 107.0 113.2 95.9 NA 89.7 110.2 96.3 127.0 NA 107.1 111.0 109.3 132.7 121.0 143.3
1982 97.9 102.0 95.1 NA 89.6 109.4 97.5 119.9 NA 103.4 108.4 106.2 126.8 117.2 135.6
1983 98.9 100.7 96.8 NA 94.0 104.3 99.2 117.1 NA 100.1 105.3 101.5 120.9 116.1 128.4
1984 105.3 103.4 99.8 NA 105.2 102.6 104.4 113.9 NA 99.7 100.3 97.8 119.4 118.9 126.4
1985 104.6 106.4 100.3 88.8 105.5 102.4 107.0 110.1 NA 99.1 97.1 96.6 119.9 119.4 125.2
1986 103.0 110.5 99.2 98.3 112.2 101.5 113.7 108.3 NA 100.1 98.3 97.2 121.2 118.9 122.0
1987 103.8 114.7 98.5 108.3 115.8 100.0 109.6 106.3 NA 99.9 99.7 97.6 118.3 119.5 121.0
1988 106.6 121.2 101.7 111.6 114.8 101.5 107.2 105.1 NA 99.3 101.2 98.9 114.0 121.4 122.8
1989 107.1 120.2 102.7 108.5 109.2 102.3 104.7 105.5 NA 99.3 103.0 99.7 106.8 119.0 122.4
1990 104.8 113.5 102.9 106.6 101.3 104.3 103.7 105.6 NA 100.1 103.7 101.4 103.4 116.4 118.1
1991 100.4 103.9 103.1 103.9 99.5 101.5 102.1 102.9 104.1 100.9 103.6 100.9 100.8 109.0 106.6
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 101.4 100.1 94.7 97.5 99.6 94.7 94.8 95.1 90.8 91.3 95.2 96.8 102.1 94.9 97.6
1994 103.6 103.0 91.9 98.9 101.6 93.6 NA 92.7 86.8 86.7 97.6 92.4 105.0 98.1 99.1
1995 104.0 106.4 89.1 100.6 99.8 92.0 NA 92.1 84.9 84.3 99.3 91.5 106.6 105.3 102.7
1996 103.6 109.0 88.7 97.3 97.7 91.1 NA 91.3 81.2 80.4 97.5 90.4 107.6 105.3 104.6
1997 105.4 112.4 88.0 90.5 99.3 89.6 NA 90.0 80.1 78.6 99.0 91.1 112.0 104.3 104.5
1998 105.2 117.5 82.7 74.8 97.7 90.1 NA 90.0 80.7 79.3 100.6 91.8 113.7 105.8 103.6
1999 104.4 121.5 80.3 81.9 98.9 91.1 NA 89.4 79.6 NA 100.5 92.0 109.6 105.4 99.6
2000 102.8 125.6 80.2 87.9 100.8 91.7 NA 87.1 79.5 NA 100.7 92.5 105.4 106.8 96.0
2001 97.1 123.9 77.4 86.5 89.4 90.7 NA 86.3 78.8 NA 99.7 NA 103.4 104.3 92.4
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 23 -
Table 5. Employment in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 84.3 77.9 NA NA NA NA 84.4 113.4 NA 75.2 71.4 114.1 119.0 122.0 164.6
1955 93.1 85.3 47.8 NA NA NA 86.7 113.0 NA 95.5 77.1 121.8 124.9 129.7 177.1
1960 92.6 84.8 62.8 NA NA 135.7 104.1 116.6 NA 108.1 89.5 129.4 121.9 137.8 184.3
1961 90.0 84.1 67.5 NA NA 140.1 107.0 117.4 NA 111.3 92.4 132.2 124.5 141.3 186.9
1962 92.8 86.5 71.3 NA NA 143.3 109.7 118.6 NA 111.8 95.3 134.7 126.0 142.2 185.1
1963 93.5 88.5 74.1 NA NA 144.7 109.3 121.2 NA 111.0 98.3 135.4 127.4 142.4 182.2
1964 94.9 92.5 76.4 NA NA 148.8 112.0 123.4 NA 111.0 98.6 137.1 128.5 144.3 185.0
1965 99.3 96.9 77.4 NA NA 148.7 113.9 122.2 NA 113.0 96.3 137.9 130.6 144.8 187.4
1966 105.4 102.4 79.7 NA NA 148.5 112.8 122.8 NA 111.8 95.7 137.0 132.4 143.0 187.9
1967 106.7 103.3 84.3 NA NA 143.9 107.5 122.4 NA 105.8 98.8 132.9 133.2 138.3 182.1
1968 108.5 103.8 87.2 NA NA 141.5 108.5 120.3 NA 106.6 100.2 132.1 131.7 136.0 180.4
1969 110.6 105.7 89.7 NA NA 146.3 111.4 123.7 NA 111.0 103.6 133.7 132.3 138.4 182.9
1970 106.3 103.9 91.9 NA NA 150.2 111.9 127.0 NA 113.6 107.0 134.3 135.3 140.6 182.6
1971 102.2 104.4 92.3 NA NA 149.6 107.3 128.6 NA 112.9 109.9 132.2 136.1 135.9 176.4
1972 105.0 107.7 92.3 NA NA 147.4 110.1 130.1 NA 110.8 110.0 127.5 137.5 133.8 172.2
1973 110.5 112.5 96.2 NA 60.3 148.4 111.6 132.8 NA 111.5 112.4 125.8 137.8 135.8 173.2
1974 110.1 113.9 95.3 NA 61.2 150.7 107.6 134.2 NA 108.9 116.9 125.4 139.3 138.7 173.9
1975 100.6 110.9 90.0 NA 59.3 141.5 98.5 130.9 NA 102.2 118.5 121.0 138.3 139.8 165.9
1976 104.2 110.7 89.5 NA 66.7 135.8 99.2 130.2 NA 99.9 119.1 116.0 138.1 139.4 160.6
1977 108.2 108.5 88.6 NA 71.9 130.5 98.5 129.7 NA 100.3 120.1 113.1 138.3 134.5 161.2
1978 112.7 111.7 87.4 NA 78.1 125.0 98.0 128.1 NA 100.0 120.0 110.5 135.8 130.7 160.5
1979 115.6 115.7 87.2 NA 81.4 121.8 98.8 126.1 NA 101.2 121.9 109.3 134.0 131.0 159.6
1980 111.6 115.1 88.9 NA 84.4 119.3 97.2 124.7 NA 102.2 122.6 107.8 134.2 130.9 151.8
1981 111.0 114.8 89.8 NA 86.2 112.4 93.8 120.7 NA 100.3 119.6 105.0 132.0 127.0 138.0
1982 103.5 104.3 89.3 NA 86.3 109.2 93.6 118.8 NA 97.4 117.1 101.0 127.3 122.4 129.9
1983 101.8 101.6 90.8 NA 90.5 106.8 93.9 116.4 NA 94.1 113.7 96.4 120.8 119.9 123.2
1984 106.8 104.4 92.7 NA 100.4 105.7 99.1 113.1 NA 93.7 108.4 94.2 119.6 120.5 121.1
1985 106.0 106.8 93.5 80.3 103.7 104.0 105.2 110.0 NA 94.9 105.8 95.4 120.5 122.0 120.6
1986 104.5 110.4 93.0 87.3 108.4 103.0 109.1 108.0 NA 96.4 103.9 96.5 121.7 121.9 118.0
1987 104.7 113.7 91.9 97.9 111.8 100.5 107.7 105.3 NA 96.4 102.5 97.4 121.8 121.1 116.8
1988 106.6 117.6 93.9 103.4 112.2 100.4 105.3 103.8 NA 96.3 103.3 98.0 116.3 123.3 118.3
1989 107.0 119.4 95.9 104.4 108.3 101.7 104.1 104.4 NA 97.6 103.8 99.3 108.4 121.2 118.6
1990 105.4 113.2 97.5 104.3 101.4 102.5 104.3 105.1 NA 100.3 104.6 101.1 105.2 117.2 115.4
1991 101.8 104.1 99.8 102.5 99.5 101.5 102.4 103.5 108.0 101.8 103.5 100.7 101.9 109.9 106.5
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.1 99.1 96.8 97.3 99.6 96.1 95.5 95.2 93.0 94.0 96.8 96.9 101.8 92.6 96.6
1994 101.3 100.9 93.6 98.1 101.4 92.5 95.8 92.7 88.2 89.3 95.8 92.4 104.5 92.0 96.8
1995 102.5 104.8 90.1 99.6 99.9 91.9 98.1 92.7 86.2 87.3 95.6 91.3 107.0 97.9 98.8
1996 102.2 106.6 89.3 97.9 98.1 90.7 98.3 91.8 83.8 84.6 95.1 90.3 108.7 97.6 100.1
1997 103.2 110.0 89.1 92.3 99.3 89.1 97.5 90.9 82.6 82.6 95.3 91.4 113.3 96.6 100.6
1998 104.0 114.3 85.5 79.5 99.6 89.4 98.4 91.0 82.9 82.4 97.5 92.2 114.7 97.8 100.4
1999 102.4 117.1 83.2 80.5 100.2 88.8 97.6 90.9 82.1 NA 97.1 92.4 110.2 97.3 97.0
2000 101.8 121.2 81.7 87.6 102.3 89.1 96.8 91.7 82.7 NA 96.9 93.0 107.5 98.5 93.8
2001 97.6 120.7 79.4 88.3 97.7 89.5 95.9 92.8 82.9 NA 97.1 NA 105.8 97.5 89.8
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 24 -
Table 6. Average annual hours in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 101.4 108.8 NA NA NA NA 140.7 120.6 NA 146.0 105.1 130.2 130.8 129.9 122.8
1955 101.5 104.8 119.3 NA NA NA 138.2 120.1 NA 146.1 107.8 130.5 131.1 129.0 124.4
1960 99.5 104.1 123.9 NA NA 125.8 131.2 120.8 NA 131.7 109.0 131.8 126.0 122.1 121.8
1961 99.6 103.6 122.0 NA NA 125.5 127.3 121.3 NA 129.4 107.8 126.3 124.1 121.1 120.2
1962 100.6 104.4 119.5 NA NA 125.8 128.3 121.1 NA 126.0 104.4 125.4 123.7 120.1 119.0
1963 100.9 104.7 118.6 NA NA 125.7 126.3 121.2 NA 124.4 104.9 125.0 123.1 118.8 118.9
1964 101.6 105.1 117.9 NA NA 125.3 127.4 120.5 NA 124.3 104.9 123.9 123.9 117.5 119.8
1965 102.7 105.2 115.9 NA NA 123.2 127.2 119.4 NA 123.9 101.4 123.5 121.1 116.6 118.1
1966 103.0 104.4 116.5 NA NA 122.2 124.8 120.0 NA 122.3 102.6 122.8 121.4 116.4 116.1
1967 101.2 104.5 116.7 NA NA 120.7 123.4 118.8 NA 119.0 104.0 122.3 120.2 114.5 115.2
1968 101.0 104.2 116.4 NA NA 120.7 120.6 115.5 NA 120.4 104.0 120.1 117.4 112.2 116.2
1969 100.2 103.9 114.8 NA NA 119.5 119.1 118.4 NA 120.6 103.3 118.4 114.7 110.2 116.2
1970 98.2 103.2 113.6 NA NA 116.3 115.3 117.0 NA 119.9 101.4 116.2 113.8 110.0 114.4
1971 98.4 102.8 111.8 NA NA 114.6 114.9 116.1 NA 117.3 98.6 115.1 112.7 109.7 111.7
1972 100.0 102.9 111.1 NA NA 112.0 112.4 114.9 NA 116.2 97.9 113.5 111.0 106.8 110.6
1973 99.9 102.1 110.2 NA 111.7 109.3 106.4 113.1 NA 115.2 99.1 111.3 110.3 104.9 112.1
1974 98.0 101.5 105.6 NA 107.3 106.4 108.5 111.6 NA 112.9 95.6 107.9 108.8 103.8 108.4
1975 96.6 100.2 103.2 NA 109.9 100.7 105.1 108.3 NA 110.1 94.0 105.9 108.1 101.8 108.1
1976 97.7 100.3 106.2 NA 110.5 102.6 105.6 108.7 NA 113.2 94.0 105.7 105.3 100.6 109.0
1977 98.1 100.3 106.5 NA 110.4 102.1 104.6 107.7 NA 111.5 93.5 105.2 103.5 99.8 109.8
1978 98.1 101.0 106.9 NA 109.6 101.9 103.4 106.8 NA 110.1 93.3 104.2 101.6 97.2 109.3
1979 97.5 100.5 107.6 NA 109.0 102.0 103.3 106.6 NA 109.7 92.6 103.0 99.8 95.8 108.9
1980 96.3 99.6 107.6 NA 109.3 100.4 104.0 106.6 NA 108.1 92.8 103.6 100.4 94.8 105.7
1981 96.4 98.7 106.8 NA 104.1 98.1 102.7 105.3 NA 106.8 92.8 104.1 100.5 95.3 103.8
1982 94.6 97.8 106.5 NA 103.9 100.2 104.2 100.9 NA 106.2 92.6 105.2 99.6 95.7 104.4
1983 97.2 99.1 106.6 NA 103.9 97.7 105.6 100.6 NA 106.4 92.6 105.3 100.1 96.9 104.2
1984 98.6 99.0 107.7 NA 104.8 97.1 105.3 100.7 NA 106.4 92.6 103.8 99.9 98.6 104.4
1985 98.7 99.6 107.3 110.6 101.7 98.5 101.8 100.1 NA 104.5 91.8 101.2 99.5 97.9 103.8
1986 98.6 100.1 106.7 112.6 103.5 98.6 104.2 100.3 NA 103.9 94.5 100.7 99.6 97.5 103.4
1987 99.1 100.9 107.2 110.7 103.6 99.4 101.8 100.9 NA 103.6 97.3 100.2 97.2 98.7 103.6
1988 100.0 103.0 108.3 108.0 102.3 101.1 101.8 101.2 NA 103.2 98.0 101.0 98.0 98.5 103.8
1989 100.0 100.7 107.1 103.9 100.8 100.6 100.6 101.0 NA 101.7 99.2 100.4 98.5 98.2 103.2
1990 99.4 100.2 105.6 102.3 99.9 101.8 99.4 100.5 NA 99.8 99.2 100.4 98.3 99.3 102.3
1991 98.7 99.8 103.2 101.4 100.0 100.0 99.7 99.5 96.3 99.1 100.1 100.1 98.9 99.2 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 101.3 101.0 97.9 100.2 100.0 98.5 99.2 99.9 97.6 97.0 98.4 99.9 100.3 102.6 101.0
1994 102.2 102.0 98.1 100.8 100.2 101.2 NA 99.9 98.4 97.1 101.9 100.0 100.5 106.6 102.4
1995 101.5 101.6 98.8 101.0 99.9 100.1 NA 99.3 98.5 96.5 103.8 100.2 99.6 107.6 104.0
1996 101.5 102.3 99.4 99.4 99.7 100.5 NA 99.4 96.9 95.0 102.5 100.1 99.0 107.9 104.5
1997 102.2 102.2 98.8 98.0 100.0 100.6 NA 99.1 97.0 95.2 103.9 99.7 98.9 108.0 103.9
1998 101.2 102.7 96.7 94.1 98.1 100.8 NA 98.9 97.4 96.2 103.2 99.5 99.2 108.2 103.2
1999 102.0 103.8 96.6 101.7 98.7 102.6 NA 98.4 97.0 NA 103.6 99.5 99.5 108.3 102.6
2000 101.0 103.6 98.1 100.3 98.5 102.9 NA 95.0 96.1 NA 104.0 99.4 98.1 108.4 102.3
2001 99.4 102.6 97.4 98.0 91.5 101.4 NA 93.0 95.1 NA 102.7 NA 97.7 107.0 102.8
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 25 -
Table 7. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.7 5.4 NA NA NA NA 2.5 1.6 NA 3.4 0.9 3.1 2.2 1.9 1.5
1955 11.7 7.7 3.1 NA NA NA 3.4 2.8 NA 5.0 1.4 4.5 3.4 2.9 2.2
1960 14.9 10.0 4.3 NA NA 5.4 4.6 4.3 NA 8.1 1.8 6.4 4.7 4.1 3.0
1961 15.3 10.2 5.0 NA NA 5.7 5.2 4.7 NA 9.1 2.0 7.3 5.2 4.5 3.2
1962 15.9 10.6 5.7 NA NA 6.2 5.6 5.2 NA 10.3 2.3 7.8 5.7 5.0 3.3
1963 16.4 11.1 6.4 NA NA 6.8 6.1 5.7 NA 11.0 2.8 8.6 6.1 5.5 3.5
1964 17.0 11.5 7.2 NA NA 7.7 6.6 6.2 NA 11.9 2.9 9.9 6.5 6.0 3.7
1965 17.4 12.2 8.1 NA NA 8.5 7.4 6.7 NA 13.1 3.1 11.1 7.2 6.6 4.0
1966 18.2 13.1 8.9 NA NA 9.4 8.4 7.1 NA 14.2 3.3 12.5 7.8 7.3 4.4
1967 19.2 13.8 10.0 NA NA 10.3 9.4 7.6 NA 15.0 3.7 13.8 8.7 8.1 4.5
1968 20.7 14.7 11.6 NA NA 11.0 10.3 8.7 NA 16.1 3.9 15.4 9.6 8.8 4.8
1969 22.2 15.9 13.8 NA NA 12.1 11.6 9.2 NA 17.6 4.3 17.5 10.6 9.6 5.3
1970 23.7 17.1 16.4 NA NA 13.7 13.3 10.4 NA 20.7 5.3 20.2 11.8 10.7 6.1
1971 25.2 18.2 19.0 NA NA 15.9 15.2 11.6 NA 23.2 6.1 23.1 13.5 12.1 6.9
1972 26.5 19.5 21.9 NA NA 18.8 16.9 12.8 NA 25.6 6.7 26.5 15.2 13.5 8.0
1973 28.5 21.2 26.7 NA 9.5 22.3 20.5 14.7 NA 29.0 7.9 31.6 17.1 15.2 9.1
1974 31.6 24.6 35.0 NA 13.9 27.4 24.8 17.5 NA 33.0 10.3 37.7 20.1 17.9 11.0
1975 35.5 28.3 40.8 NA 14.9 33.1 29.6 21.3 NA 36.4 12.7 43.2 24.0 21.9 14.6
1976 38.4 32.5 43.9 NA 16.7 38.3 33.0 24.5 NA 39.1 15.8 48.2 27.7 25.7 16.9
1977 41.8 36.1 48.5 NA 18.2 41.4 36.5 27.8 NA 42.8 18.9 52.5 31.1 28.1 19.1
1978 45.2 38.8 51.7 NA 20.5 44.4 40.2 31.3 NA 45.9 21.5 56.9 34.1 31.1 22.3
1979 49.6 42.7 55.0 NA 24.3 47.2 45.0 35.5 NA 49.3 26.0 61.1 35.8 33.5 26.5
1980 55.6 47.6 58.5 NA 29.6 52.5 49.6 40.9 NA 53.6 30.4 64.4 39.0 37.3 32.1
1981 61.1 53.8 62.6 NA 38.0 57.3 54.6 47.4 NA 57.0 36.2 67.5 43.3 41.2 37.4
1982 67.0 61.0 65.7 NA 41.5 59.9 59.5 56.3 NA 60.4 42.2 71.6 48.2 44.2 41.2
1983 68.8 65.3 67.5 NA 43.3 65.7 63.6 62.1 NA 63.1 48.6 74.9 52.9 49.0 44.4
1984 71.2 69.0 69.5 NA 46.2 71.4 67.2 67.4 NA 66.0 55.7 77.7 57.9 53.2 48.1
1985 75.1 71.9 72.4 33.1 49.5 75.3 71.7 73.0 NA 70.0 63.1 81.9 63.4 58.6 52.9
1986 78.5 73.0 76.0 35.2 55.7 77.3 73.2 76.1 NA 72.8 65.9 85.1 69.1 63.4 57.6
1987 80.7 74.7 77.8 40.3 60.9 79.7 80.1 78.9 NA 76.0 69.4 87.9 78.4 67.6 64.3
1988 84.0 77.5 79.1 50.0 65.6 81.1 82.9 81.9 NA 79.1 74.6 87.8 83.3 71.8 68.7
1989 86.6 82.6 84.0 57.6 74.3 85.9 87.7 86.3 NA 83.2 80.9 88.6 87.2 79.4 73.8
1990 90.8 88.3 90.5 68.5 85.3 90.1 92.7 90.9 NA 89.4 87.6 90.9 92.3 87.8 82.9
1991 95.6 95.0 96.4 86.1 93.5 97.3 95.9 96.4 91.5 95.1 94.2 95.3 97.5 95.5 93.8
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.7 102.0 102.8 114.0 106.0 104.8 104.6 102.6 106.4 105.9 105.7 103.8 101.5 97.4 104.6
1994 105.6 103.7 104.9 129.5 111.1 106.1 NA 106.0 111.7 111.7 106.8 108.2 104.4 100.0 106.7
1995 107.9 106.0 108.3 158.1 120.3 109.2 NA 110.0 117.5 117.7 111.3 110.7 109.2 106.5 107.9
1996 109.4 107.0 109.2 184.1 128.2 110.9 NA 112.1 122.3 123.7 119.0 113.0 113.6 114.4 109.5
1997 111.5 109.3 112.9 197.7 132.3 114.9 NA 112.0 124.7 126.6 123.0 115.8 118.7 119.4 113.9
1998 117.4 110.5 115.8 214.8 140.2 116.6 NA 112.6 126.5 127.6 122.2 120.6 125.7 124.4 120.5
1999 122.1 112.3 115.2 211.1 144.0 118.3 NA 116.3 129.3 NA 124.6 124.0 133.0 129.3 129.6
2000 131.1 113.9 114.5 221.1 146.2 121.1 NA 120.8 133.5 NA 127.8 131.0 140.0 131.8 135.2
2001 133.1 117.8 115.0 240.2 162.7 125.9 NA 126.6 137.7 NA 132.6 NA 147.6 137.2 140.4
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
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.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 26 -
Table 8. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.7 6.0 NA NA NA NA 2.2 2.4 NA 1.3 1.9 1.4 1.9 2.1 2.5
1955 11.7 9.5 1.1 NA NA NA 3.0 4.3 NA 1.9 2.7 2.1 2.9 3.3 3.5
1960 14.9 12.4 1.5 NA NA 3.5 4.0 4.6 NA 3.0 3.5 3.0 4.1 4.6 4.7
1961 15.3 12.2 1.8 NA NA 3.7 4.5 5.1 NA 3.5 3.9 3.5 4.5 5.0 5.0
1962 15.9 12.0 2.0 NA NA 4.0 4.9 5.6 NA 4.0 4.6 3.8 5.0 5.6 5.3
1963 16.4 12.4 2.2 NA NA 4.4 5.4 6.1 NA 4.3 5.5 4.2 5.3 6.2 5.5
1964 17.0 12.9 2.5 NA NA 5.0 5.8 6.7 NA 4.7 5.8 4.8 5.6 6.8 5.8
1965 17.4 13.7 2.8 NA NA 5.5 6.4 7.2 NA 5.1 6.2 5.4 6.2 7.5 6.4
1966 18.2 14.7 3.1 NA NA 6.1 7.3 7.6 NA 5.5 6.6 6.1 6.8 8.2 6.9
1967 19.2 15.4 3.5 NA NA 6.7 8.1 8.2 NA 5.9 7.3 6.8 7.6 9.1 7.0
1968 20.7 16.5 4.1 NA NA 7.1 8.3 9.3 NA 6.3 7.8 7.5 8.4 9.9 6.6
1969 22.2 17.9 4.9 NA NA 7.7 9.3 9.4 NA 7.0 8.5 8.5 9.3 10.8 7.1
1970 23.7 19.8 5.8 NA NA 8.9 10.7 9.9 NA 8.9 10.3 9.8 10.3 12.0 8.3
1971 25.2 21.7 6.9 NA NA 10.5 12.4 11.2 NA 10.4 12.1 11.6 11.9 13.8 9.6
1972 26.5 23.8 9.1 NA NA 13.7 14.7 13.5 NA 12.6 14.1 14.5 14.3 16.5 11.4
1973 28.5 25.6 12.5 NA 6.3 18.5 20.5 17.5 NA 17.1 16.7 20.0 18.5 20.3 12.7
1974 31.6 30.5 15.2 NA 9.2 22.6 24.6 19.3 NA 19.9 19.4 24.7 22.6 23.5 14.6
1975 35.5 33.7 17.4 NA 9.9 29.0 31.1 26.4 NA 23.1 23.9 30.1 28.6 30.8 18.4
1976 38.4 39.9 18.8 NA 11.0 31.9 32.9 27.1 NA 24.3 23.5 32.1 31.6 34.3 17.3
1977 41.8 41.1 22.9 NA 12.1 37.1 36.7 29.9 NA 28.8 26.4 37.7 36.3 36.7 18.9
1978 45.2 41.2 31.4 NA 13.9 45.4 44.1 36.9 NA 35.8 31.2 46.3 40.4 40.2 24.2
1979 49.6 44.0 32.0 NA 16.9 51.7 51.6 44.2 NA 42.0 38.6 53.6 43.9 45.6 31.9
1980 55.6 49.1 32.7 NA 20.7 57.7 53.2 51.3 NA 46.1 43.8 57.0 49.0 51.4 42.2
1981 61.1 54.2 36.0 NA 26.0 49.5 46.2 46.1 NA 39.3 39.1 47.5 46.9 47.4 42.8
1982 67.0 59.7 33.4 NA 26.7 42.1 43.0 45.3 NA 38.8 38.4 47.1 46.4 41.0 40.8
1983 68.8 64.0 36.0 NA 27.2 41.3 42.0 43.2 NA 38.6 39.4 46.2 45.0 37.2 38.1
1984 71.2 64.4 37.1 NA 29.3 39.7 39.2 40.9 NA 36.3 39.1 42.6 44.1 37.5 36.4
1985 75.1 63.6 38.5 30.2 31.2 40.8 40.9 43.0 NA 37.2 40.7 43.4 45.8 39.7 38.9
1986 78.5 63.5 57.2 31.2 37.0 55.6 54.6 58.1 NA 52.4 54.4 61.1 58.0 51.8 47.9
1987 80.7 68.1 68.2 38.3 48.3 68.6 70.6 69.5 NA 66.0 66.0 76.3 72.3 62.1 59.7
1988 84.0 76.2 78.2 53.5 57.7 70.9 74.3 72.8 NA 70.4 70.6 78.0 79.3 68.2 69.3
1989 86.6 84.3 77.1 67.0 70.8 70.1 72.3 71.6 NA 69.1 72.7 73.4 78.4 71.6 68.4
1990 90.8 91.5 79.1 75.6 79.7 86.6 90.4 88.3 NA 86.4 90.1 87.7 91.7 86.4 83.7
1991 95.6 100.1 90.8 91.7 87.9 91.5 90.5 90.4 86.0 89.4 93.5 89.5 93.3 91.9 93.9
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 102.7 95.5 117.3 111.0 100.9 97.4 97.4 95.8 100.4 100.0 82.8 98.2 88.8 72.8 89.0
1994 105.6 91.7 130.1 126.0 105.6 102.1 NA 101.1 107.6 107.6 81.7 104.6 91.9 75.5 92.5
1995 107.9 93.3 146.2 160.5 114.2 119.1 NA 116.8 128.2 128.3 84.2 121.4 107.1 86.9 96.4
1996 109.4 94.8 127.2 179.4 117.4 115.1 NA 116.0 127.0 128.4 95.0 117.9 109.3 99.3 96.7
1997 111.5 95.3 118.3 163.7 115.6 103.1 NA 101.5 112.2 114.0 88.9 104.3 104.1 91.0 105.6
1998 117.4 90.0 112.0 120.4 105.1 103.2 NA 101.0 112.3 113.3 86.7 106.9 103.4 91.1 113.1
1999 122.1 91.4 128.4 139.2 112.1 100.5 NA 100.0 110.0 NA 84.5 105.4 105.9 91.0 118.7
2000 131.1 92.6 134.7 153.4 117.7 89.1 NA 90.0 98.4 NA 75.1 96.5 98.7 83.7 116.0
2001 133.1 91.9 119.9 145.9 121.0 89.8 NA 91.5 98.4 NA 75.6 NA 102.0 77.3 114.5
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
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.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 27 -
Table 9. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 NA 20.9 NA NA NA NA 11.0 12.0 NA 25.5 7.0 27.7 8.9 9.5 6.3
1955 NA 24.2 36.4 NA NA NA 13.8 16.8 NA 25.4 7.2 31.6 11.6 13.8 8.3
1960 NA 26.4 31.3 NA NA 30.1 15.4 19.4 NA 27.8 7.5 34.6 12.7 15.0 9.8
1961 NA 25.7 32.1 NA NA 31.5 16.3 20.2 NA 29.7 7.7 37.4 13.4 15.6 10.5
1962 NA 24.8 34.9 NA NA 32.1 17.0 21.0 NA 31.5 8.2 38.5 14.7 16.2 10.8
1963 NA 24.9 36.1 NA NA 34.2 17.9 21.7 NA 32.2 9.5 40.7 14.9 16.9 10.7
1964 NA 24.9 35.8 NA NA 36.3 17.9 21.9 NA 32.1 10.0 43.2 15.1 16.9 10.7
1965 NA 25.1 38.7 NA NA 38.3 18.9 22.2 NA 33.3 9.6 45.4 15.7 17.4 11.4
1966 NA 26.5 38.9 NA NA 39.6 20.5 21.7 NA 34.7 9.4 47.7 16.5 18.2 11.9
1967 NA 27.6 38.5 NA NA 40.9 21.4 22.0 NA 34.5 9.9 49.2 17.8 18.7 11.8
1968 NA 27.9 40.0 NA NA 40.3 21.6 22.6 NA 34.3 9.8 48.8 18.5 18.5 11.7
1969 NA 28.8 41.4 NA NA 40.4 23.3 22.6 NA 35.0 10.4 50.4 18.6 18.8 12.5
1970 NA 31.1 43.8 NA 23.8 41.7 25.2 24.0 NA 39.8 11.9 53.3 20.1 20.6 14.1
1971 NA 31.2 47.8 NA 24.8 45.2 27.1 25.5 NA 42.9 13.5 57.6 22.3 22.2 15.3
1972 NA 31.8 50.1 NA 24.9 47.9 27.7 26.9 NA 44.7 13.9 61.2 23.8 23.6 16.8
1973 NA 32.6 56.2 NA 28.8 51.2 30.6 28.8 NA 47.5 15.1 65.8 25.3 24.8 17.8
1974 NA 37.2 71.8 NA 43.5 59.9 35.8 33.5 NA 52.1 18.6 73.2 28.6 27.9 21.0
1975 NA 44.7 81.3 NA 44.2 69.5 38.8 39.5 NA 55.2 24.2 84.9 34.5 33.7 28.6
1976 NA 47.3 82.6 NA 45.5 73.1 41.8 42.7 NA 55.4 26.4 85.5 39.0 38.9 31.8
1977 61.2 49.9 87.6 NA 47.3 75.3 45.4 45.8 NA 58.8 30.7 86.2 43.1 43.3 35.6
1978 65.3 52.6 89.8 NA 47.4 76.1 49.3 49.4 NA 61.1 33.1 87.5 46.4 46.6 40.9
1979 70.7 57.8 88.4 NA 53.8 76.8 52.5 53.5 NA 62.9 36.6 89.7 45.4 46.6 48.3
1980 78.8 65.2 92.5 NA 62.2 80.3 54.9 61.3 NA 69.4 41.0 93.7 50.3 51.0 59.0
1981 82.4 70.4 96.0 NA 72.1 81.7 59.5 69.0 NA 72.4 49.0 95.8 56.1 56.6 65.5
1982 87.9 79.1 96.7 NA 76.8 81.5 64.5 76.6 NA 76.7 57.0 100.0 59.9 58.7 68.5
1983 86.0 79.7 98.0 NA 75.2 81.1 65.7 82.6 NA 76.4 64.2 96.9 63.6 60.7 68.2
1984 85.6 77.8 97.7 NA 78.1 84.0 69.9 88.3 NA 77.3 67.9 91.6 65.6 62.5 70.3
1985 87.3 78.9 94.6 60.4 81.3 86.5 74.1 92.0 NA 78.6 72.2 92.5 69.6 68.0 74.4
1986 91.2 83.3 99.9 59.8 83.5 88.0 80.3 94.3 NA 81.2 74.9 94.4 76.9 72.4 77.9
1987 86.9 85.1 97.0 63.8 83.7 89.7 88.3 96.2 NA 86.3 77.8 96.6 83.2 75.8 82.4
1988 86.7 86.6 94.3 72.8 85.9 88.1 88.1 93.4 NA 86.5 79.4 94.2 89.5 79.4 83.2
1989 90.5 89.3 94.9 78.7 89.5 88.7 88.0 93.6 NA 87.9 84.8 91.4 91.3 85.1 85.6
1990 93.7 94.6 95.9 84.2 95.9 93.0 93.5 96.9 NA 90.3 91.5 92.3 94.6 92.9 92.9
1991 97.6 99.6 97.4 94.1 96.8 98.1 96.5 99.3 93.1 93.3 98.2 95.6 99.2 100.0 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.6 96.4 101.1 105.4 103.0 102.3 103.7 101.9 104.5 105.3 104.3 102.1 101.9 90.8 100.7
1994 98.5 93.6 101.5 109.8 104.1 97.9 96.2 97.9 102.0 103.6 101.9 95.6 104.8 83.8 99.7
1995 94.8 94.3 97.6 122.4 104.5 96.4 96.4 96.6 104.7 105.9 103.0 93.7 108.4 87.4 102.9
1996 93.5 97.5 94.0 129.1 104.1 94.7 103.7 97.8 107.4 107.5 110.0 94.0 110.8 91.9 105.5
1997 91.9 96.2 93.3 121.0 102.3 90.5 99.7 91.9 104.4 103.9 111.9 94.7 116.4 90.2 108.2
1998 92.8 97.7 95.5 117.4 103.2 90.2 102.9 88.2 105.2 100.4 111.1 96.5 125.7 89.2 112.7
1999 90.2 96.8 90.8 104.4 100.7 91.4 105.4 87.7 107.4 NA 113.4 96.6 128.4 86.3 116.2
2000 91.7 96.1 85.4 101.2 97.1 90.8 101.8 84.8 104.4 NA 113.1 97.9 134.0 83.4 114.5
2001 91.4 101.5 89.8 106.5 102.0 93.9 101.7 86.5 106.6 NA 115.4 NA 140.1 85.5 117.2
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
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.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 28 -
Table 10. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 NA 23.1 NA NA NA NA 9.6 18.1 NA 9.5 13.8 12.8 7.7 10.7 10.0
1955 NA 29.7 12.8 NA NA NA 12.0 25.4 NA 9.4 14.1 14.6 10.1 15.5 13.2
1960 NA 32.9 11.0 NA NA 19.4 13.4 21.0 NA 10.4 15.0 16.1 11.1 16.9 15.6
1961 NA 30.6 11.3 NA NA 20.3 14.3 21.8 NA 11.6 15.3 18.1 11.7 17.6 16.7
1962 NA 28.1 12.3 NA NA 20.7 14.9 22.7 NA 12.3 16.3 18.8 12.8 18.3 17.2
1963 NA 27.8 12.7 NA NA 22.0 15.7 23.5 NA 12.6 18.8 19.9 13.0 18.9 17.0
1964 NA 27.9 12.5 NA NA 23.5 15.6 23.7 NA 12.6 19.8 21.1 13.1 19.1 16.9
1965 NA 28.2 13.6 NA NA 24.8 16.5 24.0 NA 13.0 19.0 22.2 13.7 19.6 18.0
1966 NA 29.7 13.6 NA NA 25.6 17.9 23.4 NA 13.6 18.6 23.2 14.3 20.6 18.9
1967 NA 30.9 13.5 NA NA 26.5 18.5 23.7 NA 13.5 19.6 24.0 15.5 21.1 18.3
1968 NA 31.3 14.1 NA NA 25.9 17.4 24.2 NA 13.4 19.4 23.7 16.1 20.9 15.9
1969 NA 32.3 14.6 NA NA 25.9 18.7 23.1 NA 13.9 20.4 24.4 16.2 21.1 16.9
1970 NA 36.0 15.5 NA 14.9 27.0 20.2 23.0 NA 17.1 23.3 25.9 17.5 23.1 19.1
1971 NA 37.3 17.4 NA 15.6 29.9 22.1 24.5 NA 19.3 26.9 29.0 19.7 25.3 21.2
1972 NA 38.8 21.0 NA 15.7 35.0 24.1 28.2 NA 21.9 29.4 33.5 22.5 28.9 23.7
1973 NA 39.3 26.3 NA 18.9 42.4 30.7 34.4 NA 28.0 32.0 41.6 27.4 33.1 24.7
1974 NA 46.0 31.2 NA 28.8 49.5 35.6 36.9 NA 31.5 35.2 48.0 32.2 36.7 27.9
1975 NA 53.1 34.8 NA 29.3 60.9 40.9 48.8 NA 35.1 45.7 59.2 41.1 47.4 36.0
1976 NA 58.0 35.3 NA 30.1 60.9 41.8 47.3 NA 34.4 39.2 56.9 44.4 52.0 32.5
1977 61.2 56.7 41.5 NA 31.3 67.6 45.6 49.3 NA 39.6 42.8 61.8 50.3 56.4 35.1
1978 65.3 55.8 54.6 NA 32.2 77.8 54.0 58.1 NA 47.6 48.1 71.2 55.0 60.1 44.4
1979 70.7 59.6 51.3 NA 37.5 84.2 60.3 66.5 NA 53.6 54.3 78.6 55.7 63.3 58.0
1980 78.8 67.4 51.8 NA 43.4 88.3 58.8 76.8 NA 59.6 59.0 82.9 63.3 70.2 77.7
1981 82.4 70.9 55.2 NA 49.2 70.6 50.3 67.1 NA 49.9 53.1 67.4 60.7 65.1 75.0
1982 87.9 77.5 49.2 NA 49.4 57.2 46.7 61.6 NA 49.3 51.9 65.8 57.7 54.4 67.8
1983 86.0 78.1 52.3 NA 47.2 51.0 43.4 57.4 NA 46.7 52.1 59.7 54.1 46.1 58.6
1984 85.6 72.5 52.2 NA 49.6 46.8 40.7 53.5 NA 42.4 47.7 50.2 50.0 44.0 53.2
1985 87.3 69.8 50.3 55.0 51.3 46.9 42.2 54.3 NA 41.7 46.6 49.0 50.3 46.1 54.7
1986 91.2 72.4 75.2 53.0 55.6 63.4 59.9 72.1 NA 58.5 61.9 67.8 64.6 59.2 64.8
1987 86.9 77.6 85.0 60.6 66.3 77.2 77.8 84.7 NA 74.9 73.9 83.8 76.7 69.6 76.5
1988 86.7 85.0 93.2 77.8 75.5 77.0 78.9 82.9 NA 76.9 75.2 83.8 85.2 75.4 83.9
1989 90.5 91.1 87.1 91.6 85.2 72.3 72.5 77.7 NA 73.0 76.1 75.8 82.1 76.8 79.4
1990 93.7 98.0 83.8 93.0 89.7 89.5 91.2 94.1 NA 87.3 94.1 89.1 94.0 91.3 93.9
1991 97.6 105.1 91.7 100.3 91.1 92.3 91.0 93.1 87.5 87.8 97.5 89.9 95.0 96.3 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.6 90.3 115.4 102.7 98.1 95.1 96.5 95.2 98.7 99.4 81.6 96.6 89.2 67.8 85.6
1994 98.5 82.8 125.9 106.8 99.0 94.2 91.4 93.4 98.2 99.8 77.9 92.4 92.3 63.2 86.4
1995 94.8 83.0 131.7 124.3 99.2 105.2 104.0 102.5 114.2 115.5 77.9 102.7 106.4 71.3 91.9
1996 93.5 86.4 109.6 125.9 95.4 98.4 108.0 101.2 111.5 111.6 87.9 98.1 106.6 79.8 93.2
1997 91.9 84.0 97.7 100.2 89.5 81.2 91.0 83.3 94.0 93.5 80.9 85.3 102.1 68.8 100.4
1998 92.8 79.6 92.4 65.8 77.4 79.9 92.7 79.1 93.3 89.1 78.8 85.5 103.5 65.3 105.7
1999 90.2 78.8 101.2 68.8 78.3 77.6 91.0 75.4 91.4 NA 76.9 82.1 102.2 60.8 106.4
2000 91.7 78.2 100.4 70.2 78.1 66.8 75.9 63.2 76.9 NA 66.4 72.1 94.5 53.0 98.3
2001 91.4 79.2 93.6 64.7 75.8 67.0 73.7 62.5 76.2 NA 65.7 NA 96.8 48.2 95.5
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
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.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 29 -
Table 11. Exchange rates, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001 (Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar)
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 100.0 110.5 35.2 NA NA NA 87.5 151.3 NA 37.2 197.3 46.2 87.1 112.6 158.6
1955 100.0 122.5 35.2 NA NA NA 87.4 151.2 NA 37.1 197.1 46.1 87.0 112.6 158.0
1960 100.0 124.6 35.2 NA NA 64.5 87.6 107.9 NA 37.4 198.4 46.6 87.1 112.7 159.0
1961 100.0 119.4 35.1 NA NA 64.5 87.4 107.9 NA 38.9 198.4 48.5 87.0 112.7 158.6
1962 100.0 113.1 35.1 NA NA 64.6 87.5 108.0 NA 39.1 198.5 48.8 87.1 113.0 159.0
1963 100.0 112.0 35.1 NA NA 64.5 87.4 108.0 NA 39.2 198.2 48.8 86.9 112.3 158.5
1964 100.0 112.0 35.0 NA NA 64.6 87.3 108.0 NA 39.3 197.3 48.8 86.8 113.1 158.1
1965 100.0 112.1 35.1 NA NA 64.8 87.3 108.0 NA 39.1 197.2 48.8 86.9 112.9 158.3
1966 100.0 112.2 35.0 NA NA 64.5 87.4 107.7 NA 39.1 197.3 48.6 86.9 112.8 158.1
1967 100.0 112.0 35.0 NA NA 64.7 86.5 107.6 NA 39.2 197.4 48.8 86.9 112.9 155.7
1968 100.0 112.2 35.2 NA NA 64.4 80.7 106.9 NA 39.1 197.7 48.6 87.0 112.7 135.5
1969 100.0 112.2 35.4 NA NA 64.1 80.3 102.2 NA 39.8 196.4 48.5 87.0 112.7 135.3
1970 100.0 115.8 35.4 252.7 62.9 64.7 80.5 95.7 NA 42.8 196.5 48.6 86.9 112.3 135.6
1971 100.0 119.7 36.5 226.0 62.9 66.2 81.6 96.1 NA 44.9 199.3 50.4 88.3 114.1 138.4
1972 100.0 122.0 41.8 199.7 62.9 73.0 86.8 104.9 NA 49.0 211.1 54.8 94.3 122.5 141.6
1973 100.0 120.8 46.8 197.0 65.8 82.8 100.2 119.3 NA 59.0 211.8 63.3 108.2 133.8 138.8
1974 100.0 123.6 43.5 194.0 66.2 82.7 99.3 110.1 NA 60.5 189.4 65.5 112.6 131.4 132.5
1975 100.0 118.8 42.7 162.1 66.2 87.6 105.3 123.6 NA 63.6 188.9 69.7 119.2 140.6 125.8
1976 100.0 122.6 42.8 162.1 66.2 83.3 99.9 110.9 NA 62.1 148.4 66.6 113.9 133.7 102.2
1977 100.0 113.7 47.3 162.1 66.2 89.7 100.6 107.7 NA 67.3 139.6 71.7 116.8 130.4 98.8
1978 100.0 106.0 60.8 162.1 67.9 102.3 109.6 117.6 NA 77.9 145.2 81.4 118.6 129.0 108.6
1979 100.0 103.2 58.1 162.1 69.8 109.6 114.8 124.4 NA 85.2 148.3 87.7 122.7 135.9 120.2
1980 100.0 103.4 55.9 129.2 69.8 110.0 107.1 125.3 NA 85.9 143.9 88.5 125.8 137.7 131.7
1981 100.0 100.8 57.5 115.2 68.3 86.4 84.6 97.3 NA 69.0 108.2 70.4 108.2 115.0 114.6
1982 100.0 97.9 50.9 107.2 64.3 70.2 72.4 80.5 NA 64.3 91.0 65.8 96.2 92.7 99.0
1983 100.0 98.1 53.4 101.1 62.8 62.9 66.0 69.5 NA 61.2 81.1 61.6 85.1 75.9 85.8
1984 100.0 93.3 53.4 97.1 63.5 55.7 58.3 60.6 NA 54.9 70.2 54.8 76.2 70.4 75.7
1985 100.0 88.5 53.2 91.0 63.1 54.2 57.0 58.9 NA 53.1 64.5 53.0 72.3 67.7 73.5
1986 100.0 87.0 75.3 88.7 66.5 72.0 74.6 76.4 NA 72.0 82.6 71.8 84.0 81.7 83.1
1987 100.0 91.1 87.7 95.0 79.2 86.1 88.2 88.0 NA 86.9 95.0 86.8 92.2 91.8 92.8
1988 100.0 98.2 98.9 106.8 87.9 87.4 89.6 88.8 NA 88.9 94.6 88.9 95.2 94.9 100.8
1989 100.0 102.1 91.8 116.4 95.3 81.6 82.5 83.0 NA 83.0 89.8 82.9 89.9 90.2 92.7
1990 100.0 103.6 87.4 110.4 93.5 96.2 97.5 97.2 NA 96.6 102.8 96.6 99.4 98.4 101.0
1991 100.0 105.5 94.2 106.5 94.0 94.0 94.3 93.7 94.0 94.0 99.3 93.9 95.7 96.3 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.0 93.7 114.1 97.4 95.2 93.0 93.1 93.4 94.4 94.4 78.3 94.6 87.5 74.7 85.0
1994 100.0 88.4 124.1 97.2 95.1 96.2 95.0 95.4 96.3 96.3 76.5 96.7 88.1 75.5 86.7
1995 100.0 88.1 134.9 101.5 95.0 109.1 107.8 106.2 109.1 109.1 75.6 109.6 98.1 81.6 89.4
1996 100.0 88.6 116.5 97.5 91.6 103.8 104.1 103.5 103.8 103.8 79.9 104.3 96.2 86.8 88.4
1997 100.0 87.3 104.7 82.8 87.4 89.8 91.3 90.7 90.0 90.0 72.3 90.1 87.7 76.2 92.7
1998 100.0 81.5 96.8 56.0 75.0 88.5 90.1 89.7 88.8 88.8 70.9 88.7 82.3 73.3 93.8
1999 100.0 81.3 111.5 65.9 77.8 84.9 86.4 86.0 85.1 NA 67.8 85.0 79.6 70.4 91.6
2000 100.0 81.4 117.6 69.4 80.5 73.6 74.6 74.5 73.7 NA 58.7 73.7 70.5 63.5 85.8
2001 100.0 78.0 104.3 60.7 74.4 71.3 72.5 72.2 71.5 NA 57.0 71.4 69.1 56.3 81.5
NA: Not Available
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 30 -
Table 12. Average annual compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 8.8 5.9 NA NA NA NA 3.5 1.9 NA 4.9 1.0 4.0 2.9 2.4 1.9
1955 11.8 8.1 3.7 NA NA NA 4.7 3.4 NA 7.3 1.5 5.9 4.4 3.8 2.7
1960 14.8 10.4 5.3 NA NA 6.8 6.0 5.2 NA 10.7 1.9 8.4 6.0 5.0 3.6
1961 15.2 10.6 6.1 NA NA 7.2 6.6 5.7 NA 11.8 2.1 9.2 6.4 5.4 3.8
1962 16.0 11.1 6.9 NA NA 7.8 7.2 6.3 NA 13.0 2.4 9.8 7.0 6.0 3.9
1963 16.5 11.6 7.6 NA NA 8.6 7.8 6.9 NA 13.7 2.9 10.7 7.5 6.6 4.1
1964 17.3 12.1 8.5 NA NA 9.6 8.5 7.4 NA 14.8 3.1 12.3 8.0 7.1 4.4
1965 17.9 12.8 9.4 NA NA 10.5 9.4 8.0 NA 16.2 3.2 13.8 8.7 7.7 4.8
1966 18.8 13.7 10.4 NA NA 11.5 10.4 8.5 NA 17.4 3.4 15.3 9.5 8.5 5.1
1967 19.4 14.4 11.7 NA NA 12.4 11.6 9.1 NA 17.8 3.8 16.9 10.5 9.2 5.2
1968 20.9 15.4 13.6 NA NA 13.3 12.5 10.0 NA 19.4 4.1 18.5 11.3 9.8 5.6
1969 22.2 16.5 15.8 NA NA 14.4 13.8 10.9 NA 21.3 4.5 20.7 12.2 10.5 6.1
1970 23.3 17.6 18.7 NA NA 16.0 15.3 12.1 NA 24.8 5.3 23.5 13.4 11.8 7.0
1971 24.8 18.7 21.2 NA NA 18.2 17.5 13.5 NA 27.2 6.0 26.6 15.2 13.3 7.8
1972 26.5 20.1 24.3 NA NA 21.0 19.0 14.7 NA 29.8 6.5 30.1 16.8 14.4 8.9
1973 28.5 21.7 29.4 NA 10.6 24.3 21.8 16.6 NA 33.4 7.8 35.2 18.9 16.0 10.2
1974 31.0 25.0 37.0 NA 15.0 29.2 26.9 19.5 NA 37.2 9.8 40.7 21.8 18.6 11.9
1975 34.3 28.4 42.1 NA 16.4 33.3 31.1 23.1 NA 40.0 11.9 45.7 25.9 22.3 15.8
1976 37.6 32.7 46.7 NA 18.4 39.3 34.8 26.6 NA 44.3 14.9 50.9 29.2 25.8 18.5
1977 41.0 36.2 51.6 NA 20.1 42.3 38.2 29.9 NA 47.7 17.7 55.3 32.2 28.1 21.0
1978 44.3 39.2 55.2 NA 22.5 45.2 41.6 33.5 NA 50.6 20.1 59.2 34.6 30.3 24.4
1979 48.4 42.9 59.2 NA 26.5 48.1 46.5 37.8 NA 54.1 24.1 62.9 35.7 32.1 28.9
1980 53.5 47.3 62.9 NA 32.4 52.7 51.6 43.6 NA 57.9 28.2 66.7 39.1 35.3 33.9
1981 58.8 53.1 66.9 NA 39.6 56.1 56.1 49.9 NA 60.9 33.6 70.2 43.5 39.2 38.8
1982 63.3 59.7 70.0 NA 43.1 60.0 62.0 56.8 NA 64.1 39.0 75.3 48.0 42.3 43.0
1983 66.9 64.7 71.9 NA 44.9 64.2 67.2 62.5 NA 67.2 45.0 78.9 53.0 47.5 46.2
1984 70.2 68.3 74.9 NA 48.4 69.3 70.8 67.9 NA 70.3 51.5 80.7 57.9 52.5 50.2
1985 74.1 71.6 77.7 36.7 50.4 74.1 73.0 73.1 NA 73.1 57.9 82.9 63.1 57.4 55.0
1986 77.4 73.0 81.1 39.6 57.6 76.2 76.3 76.3 NA 75.6 62.3 85.7 68.8 61.8 59.6
1987 80.0 75.4 83.4 44.6 63.1 79.2 81.5 79.6 NA 78.8 67.6 88.1 76.2 66.8 66.6
1988 84.0 79.9 85.7 54.0 67.1 81.9 84.4 82.9 NA 81.7 73.1 88.6 81.6 70.7 71.4
1989 86.7 83.2 89.9 59.9 75.0 86.4 88.2 87.2 NA 84.6 80.3 89.0 85.9 77.9 76.2
1990 90.2 88.5 95.5 70.0 85.2 91.7 92.1 91.3 NA 89.2 86.9 91.2 90.8 87.2 84.8
1991 94.3 94.8 99.5 87.3 93.5 97.3 95.6 95.9 88.1 94.3 94.3 95.4 96.4 94.7 93.9
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 104.1 103.0 100.6 114.2 106.0 103.2 103.8 102.4 103.9 102.8 104.0 103.7 101.8 99.9 105.7
1994 108.0 105.8 102.9 130.6 111.4 107.4 106.0 105.9 109.9 108.5 108.8 108.2 104.9 106.6 109.2
1995 109.5 107.6 107.1 159.7 120.1 109.2 109.7 109.3 115.8 113.6 115.6 110.9 108.7 114.6 112.2
1996 111.0 109.5 108.5 182.9 127.7 111.4 112.6 111.4 118.5 117.6 122.0 113.1 112.5 123.4 114.4
1997 113.9 111.7 111.6 193.8 132.3 115.5 117.7 111.0 120.9 120.5 127.7 115.5 117.3 128.9 118.3
1998 118.8 113.5 112.0 202.2 137.5 117.5 121.0 111.4 123.3 122.8 126.1 120.0 124.6 134.6 124.4
1999 124.5 116.6 111.3 214.6 142.1 121.4 124.3 114.4 125.4 NA 129.0 123.4 132.4 140.0 133.0
2000 132.5 118.0 112.4 221.9 144.1 124.6 129.1 114.8 128.3 NA 132.9 130.2 137.3 142.8 138.3
2001 132.4 120.9 112.0 235.5 148.9 127.7 134.3 117.7 130.9 NA 136.2 NA 144.2 146.9 144.4
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
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.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 31 -
Table 13. Real hourly compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 46.6 37.0 NA NA NA NA 28.6 19.9 NA 11.7 19.1 17.1 26.3 25.3 25.6
1955 56.4 46.5 18.2 NA NA NA 31.9 26.8 NA 15.9 22.3 21.2 29.5 30.5 28.0
1960 65.0 54.6 23.1 NA NA 24.5 38.7 30.2 NA 23.6 26.8 26.4 36.4 35.4 32.8
1961 66.3 55.5 25.5 NA NA 25.7 41.7 32.4 NA 25.8 29.0 29.8 38.7 37.9 34.0
1962 68.1 56.9 27.3 NA NA 27.2 42.5 34.2 NA 28.4 32.7 31.1 40.4 40.4 34.2
1963 69.3 58.3 28.4 NA NA 29.4 43.9 35.5 NA 29.4 36.1 33.2 42.0 43.4 35.1
1964 71.2 59.6 30.7 NA NA 31.9 45.7 37.3 NA 31.1 36.3 36.3 42.5 45.7 36.2
1965 71.6 61.7 32.1 NA NA 34.0 47.7 39.5 NA 33.0 37.2 39.1 45.0 48.1 37.8
1966 72.8 63.8 33.7 NA NA 36.0 50.8 40.8 NA 34.7 38.7 41.4 47.6 49.5 39.4
1967 74.4 64.9 36.3 NA NA 38.3 53.0 42.7 NA 36.1 41.2 44.4 51.0 52.6 40.4
1968 76.9 66.6 40.1 NA NA 39.8 54.0 46.6 NA 38.3 43.3 47.6 54.3 56.0 41.4
1969 78.2 68.9 45.2 NA NA 42.0 58.7 47.7 NA 41.0 46.3 50.3 58.1 58.9 42.7
1970 79.2 71.5 49.9 NA NA 46.1 62.9 51.1 NA 46.7 53.7 56.1 58.3 61.8 46.1
1971 80.5 73.9 54.3 NA NA 51.0 68.3 54.4 NA 49.8 59.1 59.6 62.9 64.1 47.9
1972 82.0 75.7 59.6 NA NA 57.2 71.0 56.5 NA 52.3 61.5 63.4 65.8 67.5 51.6
1973 83.1 76.6 65.2 NA 32.7 63.5 78.8 60.2 NA 55.4 65.7 69.8 69.0 69.8 53.8
1974 83.1 80.2 69.4 NA 32.5 69.3 82.8 63.0 NA 58.9 71.7 76.0 74.0 74.8 55.7
1975 85.4 83.2 72.3 NA 33.0 74.3 90.0 68.7 NA 61.2 75.7 79.1 79.1 83.6 59.8
1976 87.5 88.8 71.2 NA 36.0 78.8 92.1 71.8 NA 63.1 80.9 80.9 83.9 88.4 59.6
1977 89.3 91.2 72.6 NA 36.8 79.4 91.8 74.5 NA 66.7 82.7 82.9 86.3 86.1 57.9
1978 90.3 89.9 74.3 NA 39.2 81.5 91.9 76.9 NA 69.9 83.9 86.1 87.4 88.9 62.1
1979 90.6 90.6 76.2 NA 42.2 82.9 93.7 78.7 NA 72.2 88.5 88.7 87.6 89.9 65.0
1980 91.4 91.6 75.2 NA 43.3 86.5 92.1 79.9 NA 74.6 85.3 87.5 86.0 87.7 66.7
1981 91.9 92.0 76.8 NA 47.8 87.7 90.7 81.6 NA 74.6 86.1 85.8 84.1 86.3 69.8
1982 95.1 94.1 78.4 NA 50.7 84.4 89.7 86.6 NA 75.0 86.2 86.2 84.1 85.1 70.4
1983 93.9 95.2 79.0 NA 52.1 86.0 89.7 87.3 NA 76.0 86.6 87.8 85.1 84.5 72.5
1984 93.4 96.4 79.6 NA 55.6 87.8 89.2 88.1 NA 77.6 89.6 88.2 87.7 85.2 74.8
1985 95.3 96.6 81.2 50.1 59.8 88.3 90.9 90.0 NA 80.7 93.0 90.8 90.8 87.4 77.5
1986 97.8 94.1 84.8 51.8 66.7 89.6 89.6 91.4 NA 84.0 91.7 94.3 92.4 90.4 81.6
1987 97.3 92.3 86.7 57.5 72.6 90.9 94.1 91.9 NA 87.7 92.2 97.7 96.4 92.4 87.4
1988 97.7 92.1 87.5 66.7 77.2 91.4 93.2 93.0 NA 90.3 94.4 96.7 96.0 94.1 89.1
1989 96.6 93.4 90.9 72.7 83.8 94.0 94.1 94.5 NA 92.3 96.3 96.7 96.1 98.3 88.7
1990 96.4 94.7 95.0 79.6 92.3 95.2 96.9 96.3 NA 96.6 98.0 96.7 97.7 97.6 91.1
1991 98.0 96.3 98.0 91.5 97.7 99.7 98.0 99.0 96.1 99.0 99.1 98.3 99.8 97.3 97.4
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 100.3 100.2 101.4 108.7 102.9 102.0 103.3 100.5 101.8 102.1 101.2 101.1 99.2 95.3 103.0
1994 101.0 101.6 102.8 116.4 103.7 100.9 NA 102.1 104.1 104.8 98.3 102.6 100.6 95.8 102.6
1995 100.7 101.7 106.3 136.0 108.3 102.3 NA 104.2 107.7 108.6 97.4 103.0 102.7 97.6 100.2
1996 99.4 101.1 107.0 150.8 111.9 101.8 NA 104.1 110.5 112.7 100.1 103.1 105.6 103.6 99.3
1997 99.2 101.6 108.7 155.2 114.5 103.8 NA 102.7 110.6 113.3 101.4 103.4 107.5 106.9 100.1
1998 103.0 101.4 110.8 156.8 119.3 104.3 NA 102.6 111.2 113.3 98.8 105.5 111.3 110.6 102.5
1999 104.9 101.3 110.6 152.8 122.4 104.7 NA 105.5 112.9 NA 99.1 106.2 115.2 111.2 108.5
2000 109.0 99.9 110.7 156.5 122.7 104.5 NA 107.7 114.4 NA 99.1 109.3 117.6 116.6 109.9
2001 107.7 100.8 111.9 163.4 136.6 106.0 NA 111.0 115.1 NA 100.1 120.3 118.6 112.2
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 32 -
Table 14. Real average annual compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom
1950 47.3 40.3 NA NA NA NA 40.2 24.0 NA 17.1 20.1 22.3 34.4 32.8 31.5
1955 57.2 48.7 21.7 NA NA NA 44.0 32.2 NA 23.3 24.0 27.7 38.6 39.4 34.8
1960 64.7 56.8 28.6 NA NA 30.8 50.8 36.5 NA 31.0 29.2 34.8 45.8 43.2 40.0
1961 66.0 57.5 31.2 NA NA 32.2 53.1 39.2 NA 33.4 31.3 37.7 48.1 45.9 40.8
1962 68.5 59.4 32.6 NA NA 34.2 54.5 41.4 NA 35.8 34.1 39.0 49.9 48.5 40.7
1963 69.9 61.0 33.6 NA NA 37.0 55.4 43.1 NA 36.5 37.8 41.5 51.8 51.5 41.7
1964 72.4 62.7 36.2 NA NA 39.9 58.3 45.0 NA 38.7 38.1 45.0 52.7 53.7 43.4
1965 73.5 64.9 37.2 NA NA 41.9 60.7 47.2 NA 40.9 37.8 48.3 54.5 56.0 44.7
1966 75.0 66.6 39.3 NA NA 44.0 63.4 48.9 NA 42.4 39.7 50.9 57.8 57.6 45.7
1967 75.3 67.8 42.3 NA NA 46.2 65.4 50.8 NA 42.9 42.8 54.3 61.3 60.3 46.5
1968 77.7 69.4 46.6 NA NA 48.1 65.1 53.8 NA 46.1 45.0 57.2 63.7 62.9 48.1
1969 78.4 71.5 51.8 NA NA 50.2 69.9 56.5 NA 49.5 47.9 59.6 66.6 64.9 49.6
1970 77.8 73.7 56.7 NA NA 53.6 72.5 59.8 NA 56.0 54.5 65.2 66.4 68.0 52.7
1971 79.2 76.0 60.7 NA NA 58.5 78.5 63.1 NA 58.4 58.3 68.6 70.8 70.3 53.5
1972 82.1 77.9 66.2 NA NA 64.1 79.8 64.9 NA 60.7 60.2 72.0 73.0 72.1 57.1
1973 83.0 78.3 71.8 NA 36.5 69.4 83.9 68.2 NA 63.8 65.1 77.7 76.1 73.2 60.3
1974 81.5 81.4 73.3 NA 34.9 73.8 89.8 70.3 NA 66.5 68.6 81.9 80.5 77.6 60.4
1975 82.5 83.4 74.6 NA 36.3 74.8 94.6 74.4 NA 67.4 71.1 83.7 85.6 85.1 64.6
1976 85.5 89.1 75.6 NA 39.8 80.8 97.2 78.0 NA 71.4 76.0 85.6 88.3 89.0 64.9
1977 87.6 91.4 77.4 NA 40.6 81.1 96.0 80.2 NA 74.3 77.3 87.3 89.3 86.0 63.6
1978 88.6 90.8 79.4 NA 43.0 83.1 95.0 82.1 NA 76.9 78.3 89.7 88.7 86.5 67.9
1979 88.4 91.1 82.0 NA 46.0 84.6 96.8 83.9 NA 79.2 81.9 91.4 87.4 86.1 70.7
1980 88.1 91.2 80.9 NA 47.4 86.9 95.7 85.2 NA 80.6 79.2 90.6 86.3 83.1 70.5
1981 88.5 90.8 82.0 NA 49.8 86.0 93.2 85.9 NA 79.7 79.9 89.3 84.6 82.2 72.5
1982 90.0 92.0 83.5 NA 52.7 84.5 93.5 87.5 NA 79.7 79.8 90.6 83.8 81.4 73.5
1983 91.2 94.3 84.3 NA 54.1 84.0 94.8 87.7 NA 80.8 80.2 92.4 85.2 81.8 75.6
1984 92.1 95.4 85.8 NA 58.3 85.3 93.9 88.8 NA 82.6 82.9 91.6 87.6 84.0 78.1
1985 94.0 96.2 87.2 55.5 60.8 87.0 92.5 90.1 NA 84.3 85.3 91.9 90.4 85.5 80.5
1986 96.4 94.2 90.5 58.3 69.0 88.3 93.3 91.6 NA 87.3 86.7 95.0 92.0 88.1 84.4
1987 96.5 93.2 92.9 63.7 75.2 90.4 95.8 92.7 NA 90.9 89.8 98.0 93.7 91.2 90.6
1988 97.7 94.9 94.8 72.0 79.0 92.4 94.9 94.1 NA 93.2 92.5 97.7 94.0 92.7 92.5
1989 96.6 94.1 97.4 75.6 84.5 94.5 94.6 95.5 NA 93.9 95.6 97.1 94.7 96.5 91.6
1990 95.9 94.9 100.3 81.4 92.2 96.9 96.3 96.8 NA 96.4 97.2 97.0 96.1 96.9 93.2
1991 96.7 96.1 101.2 92.8 97.7 99.7 97.6 98.5 92.6 98.2 99.2 98.4 98.7 96.6 97.5
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 101.6 101.2 99.3 109.0 102.9 100.5 102.5 100.4 99.4 99.1 99.6 101.0 99.5 97.7 104.0
1994 103.2 103.6 100.9 117.3 103.9 102.1 102.6 102.0 102.4 101.7 100.2 102.6 101.1 102.1 105.0
1995 102.2 103.3 105.1 137.4 108.1 102.3 104.0 103.5 106.0 104.9 101.1 103.2 102.3 105.0 104.2
1996 100.8 103.4 106.4 149.9 111.5 102.3 104.6 103.4 107.1 107.1 102.6 103.2 104.6 111.8 103.7
1997 101.3 103.8 107.5 152.1 114.5 104.3 107.0 101.8 107.3 107.9 105.3 103.1 106.3 115.5 104.0
1998 104.3 104.2 107.2 147.6 117.1 105.1 107.9 101.5 108.3 109.0 101.9 105.0 110.4 119.7 105.7
1999 107.0 105.1 106.8 155.4 120.7 107.4 108.3 103.7 109.5 NA 102.6 105.7 114.6 120.5 111.4
2000 110.2 103.6 108.6 157.1 120.9 107.5 109.2 102.3 110.0 NA 103.1 108.7 115.3 126.3 112.5
2001 107.1 103.5 109.0 160.2 124.9 107.5 111.0 103.3 109.4 NA 102.8 117.5 126.9 115.4
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.
- 33 -
Table 15. Total labor compensation in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-2001
(Indexes: 1992=100)
United Former West Nether- United
Year States Canada* Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany** Germany** Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom*
1950 7.4 4.6 NA NA NA NA 2.9 2.2 NA 3.7 .7 4.6 3.4 2.9 3.1
1955 11.0 6.9 1.8 NA NA NA 4.1 3.8 NA 7.0 1.1 7.2 5.5 4.9 4.9
1960 13.7 8.8 3.4 NA NA 9.2 6.3 6.0 NA 11.6 1.7 10.9 7.3 6.9 6.6
1961 13.7 8.9 4.1 NA NA 10.1 7.0 6.7 NA 13.1 2.0 12.2 8.0 7.7 7.1
1962 14.8 9.6 4.9 NA NA 11.1 7.9 7.5 NA 14.5 2.3 13.2 8.9 8.5 7.3
1963 15.4 10.2 5.6 NA NA 12.4 8.5 8.3 NA 15.2 2.8 14.5 9.5 9.3 7.5
1964 16.4 11.2 6.5 NA NA 14.3 9.5 9.2 NA 16.4 3.0 16.9 10.3 10.2 8.2
1965 17.8 12.4 7.3 NA NA 15.6 10.7 9.8 NA 18.3 3.1 19.0 11.3 11.2 9.0
1966 19.8 14.0 8.3 NA NA 17.1 11.8 10.5 NA 19.4 3.3 21.0 12.6 12.1 9.5
1967 20.7 14.9 9.8 NA NA 17.9 12.5 11.1 NA 18.9 3.8 22.5 14.0 12.8 9.5
1968 22.6 15.9 11.8 NA NA 18.8 13.5 12.0 NA 20.7 4.1 24.4 14.9 13.4 10.1
1969 24.6 17.5 14.2 NA NA 21.1 15.4 13.5 NA 23.6 4.6 27.7 16.1 14.6 11.2
1970 24.8 18.3 17.1 NA 3.0 24.0 17.1 15.4 NA 28.2 5.7 31.5 18.2 16.6 12.7
1971 25.3 19.5 19.6 NA 3.9 27.2 18.8 17.4 NA 30.7 6.6 35.2 20.8 18.0 13.7
1972 27.8 21.6 22.4 NA 4.7 31.0 20.9 19.2 NA 33.0 7.2 38.4 23.2 19.3 15.3
1973 31.5 24.4 28.3 NA 6.4 36.1 24.3 22.1 NA 37.3 8.8 44.2 26.0 21.7 17.7
1974 34.2 28.5 35.3 NA 9.1 43.9 28.9 26.2 NA 40.5 11.5 51.0 30.4 25.7 20.7
1975 34.5 31.5 37.9 NA 9.7 47.2 30.6 30.3 NA 40.9 14.1 55.3 35.8 31.2 26.2
1976 39.2 36.1 41.8 NA 12.3 53.4 34.5 34.6 NA 44.2 17.7 59.1 40.3 36.0 29.7
1977 44.4 39.3 45.7 NA 14.5 55.2 37.7 38.8 NA 47.8 21.2 62.5 44.6 37.7 33.8
1978 50.0 43.8 48.2 NA 17.6 56.5 40.8 42.9 NA 50.6 24.1 65.5 47.0 39.6 39.1
1979 55.9 49.6 51.6 NA 21.5 58.6 45.9 47.7 NA 54.8 29.4 68.8 47.9 42.1 46.1
1980 59.7 54.5 55.9 NA 27.4 62.8 50.2 54.4 NA 59.2 34.6 72.0 52.5 46.3 51.5
1981 65.3 60.9 60.1 NA 34.1 63.1 52.6 60.2 NA 61.0 40.1 73.8 57.5 49.8 53.5
1982 65.6 62.2 62.5 NA 37.2 65.5 58.0 67.5 NA 62.5 45.7 76.1 61.1 51.8 55.9
1983 68.1 65.7 65.3 NA 40.7 68.6 63.1 72.7 NA 63.2 51.1 76.1 64.0 56.9 57.0
1984 75.0 71.3 69.4 NA 48.6 73.2 70.2 76.8 NA 65.9 55.8 76.1 69.2 63.2 60.9
1985 78.5 76.5 72.6 29.4 52.3 77.1 76.8 80.4 NA 69.4 61.3 79.0 76.0 70.0 66.3
1986 80.8 80.6 75.4 34.6 62.5 78.5 83.2 82.4 NA 72.9 64.7 82.7 83.8 75.4 70.3
1987 83.8 85.7 76.6 43.7 70.5 79.7 87.7 83.9 NA 76.0 69.2 85.8 92.8 80.8 77.8
1988 89.5 94.0 80.4 55.9 75.3 82.3 88.9 86.1 NA 78.6 75.5 86.8 94.9 87.2 84.4
1989 92.8 99.3 86.3 62.5 81.2 87.9 91.8 91.0 NA 82.6 83.3 88.3 93.2 94.5 90.3
1990 95.1 100.2 93.1 73.0 86.4 94.0 96.1 96.0 NA 89.5 90.9 92.2 95.5 102.3 97.9
1991 96.0 98.6 99.4 89.4 93.1 98.8 98.0 99.2 95.2 96.0 97.6 96.1 98.2 104.1 100.1
1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1993 104.2 102.1 97.4 111.1 105.5 99.2 99.1 97.5 96.6 96.6 100.6 100.5 103.6 92.5 102.1
1994 109.4 106.8 96.3 128.2 112.9 99.3 101.6 98.2 97.0 96.8 104.3 100.0 109.6 98.1 105.8
1995 112.2 112.8 96.5 159.0 120.0 100.4 107.6 101.3 99.7 99.2 110.5 101.3 116.3 112.2 110.8
1996 113.4 116.7 96.9 179.1 125.3 101.0 110.7 102.3 99.4 99.4 116.0 102.2 122.3 120.4 114.5
1997 117.5 122.9 99.4 178.9 131.3 102.9 114.8 100.8 99.9 99.5 121.7 105.5 132.9 124.5 119.0
1998 123.5 129.8 95.7 160.7 136.9 105.1 119.1 101.4 102.2 101.2 123.0 110.7 142.9 131.6 124.8
1999 127.4 136.5 92.5 172.8 142.4 107.8 121.3 104.0 102.9 NA 125.2 114.1 145.8 136.3 129.0
2000 134.8 143.0 91.8 194.2 147.4 111.0 125.0 105.2 106.1 NA 128.7 121.1 147.6 140.7 129.7
2001 129.2 146.0 88.9 207.9 145.4 114.2 128.9 109.3 108.6 NA 132.3 NA 152.6 143.1 129.7
NA: Not Available
Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Denmark, and Italy
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.
** See technical notes on Germany.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2002.