October 03, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mexico has biggest increase in hourly compensation in 2000

Of 29 countries studied by BLS, Mexico had the greatest increase in 2000 in hourly compensation costs, measured in U.S. dollars, for production workers in manufacturing: 17.7 percent.

Percent change in hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing, U.S. and selected countries, 2000
[Chart data—TXT]

Korea, with a gain of 15.3 percent, had the next biggest increase in hourly compensation. In the United States, hourly compensation costs in manufacturing were up 3.9 percent.

Hourly compensation costs expressed in U.S. dollars decreased by 11.7 percent in 2000 in both Belgium and Italy—the largest decrease. Compensation costs also decreased in a number of other European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom.

These data are a product of the BLS Foreign Labor Statistics program. For additional information, see news release USDL 01-311, International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs for Production Workers in Manufacturing, 2000. Note that the statistics for foreign economies presented here reflect fluctuations in exchange rates as well as changes in hourly compensation expressed in each country’s national currency.

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

Find out more about the story of TED