Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov USDL: 98-393 Technical information: (202) 606-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: (202) 606-5902 Friday, September 25, 1998 INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITY AND UNIT LABOR COST TRENDS, 1997 Productivity growth in the United States was slower than in five of the nine foreign economies for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, has productivity data. Productivity growth rates were highest in France and Sweden. Manufacturing productivity (output per hour) in the United States increased 4.6 percent in 1997, about the same as in 1996. (See table A and chart 1.) Chart 1. Percent change in manufacturing output per hour, 1997 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT - 2 - Unit labor costs - the cost of labor input required to produce one unit of output - declined 1 percent in the United States in 1997. Unit labor costs, expressed in national currency units, also fell in more than half of the 12 foreign economies for which data are available. The largest drop, nearly 5 percent, occurred in Korea. As in 1996, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom were among the economies with the largest increases in unit labor costs in 1997. (See table A). Unit labor costs can be computed either as labor cost in nominal terms divided by real output or, equivalently, as hourly labor cost divided by output per hour. An increase in productivity represents a decrease in the amount of labor input needed to produce a unit of output; thus, an increase in productivity can offset an increase in compensation per hour in its effects on unit labor costs. Although hourly compensation increased 3.5 percent in the United States in 1997, unit labor costs declined because the rise in hourly compensation was more than offset by an increase of 4.6 percent in productivity. In 1997, changes in relative currency values played a large role in international competitiveness, as measured by unit labor costs converted into U.S. dollars. Currency values relative to the U.S. dollar depreciated in all of the foreign economies except the United Kingdom. Sharply depreciating currencies drove down unit labor costs on a U.S. dollar basis more than 10 percent in seven of the foreign economies, and all of the economies except the United Kingdom had declining unit labor costs when adjusted for currency movements. (See chart 2.) Chart 2. Percent change in manufacturing unit labor costs (U.S. dollar basis), 1997 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT - 3 - The 1997 measures of changes in manufacturing productivity, unit labor costs, and related variables are summarized in table A below. Output and unit labor cost data are presented for all 13 economies. Comparable productivity data are not available for Korea and Taiwan. Productivity data for Denmark are not shown because the Danish national statistical agency has not produced recent data on hours worked. (See technical notes.) No 1997 data are available for the Netherlands. Table A. Manufacturing productivity and labor costs in 13 countries or areas Percent change, 1996-97 Output Hourly Unit labor costs Country per Employ- Average compen- National U.S. Exchange or area hour Output Hours ment Hours sation currency dollars Rate(1) United States 4.6 5.7 1.1 0.5 0.6 3.5 - 1.0 - 1.0 --- Canada 2.7 6.1 3.3 3.2 .1 2.7 - .1 - 1.6 - 1.5 Japan 6.1 5.3 - .8 - .2 - .6 3.1 - 2.9 -12.7 -10.1 Korea (2) NA 6.2 NA NA NA NA - 4.7 -19.4 -15.4 Taiwan (2) NA 6.7 NA NA NA NA - 1.1 - 5.6 - 4.5 Belgium 5.6 4.5 - 1.0 - 1.2 .2 2.1 - 3.3 -16.4 -13.5 Denmark (3) NA 4.4 NA 1.4 NA NA 1.0 -11.3 -12.2 France 6.8 5.0 - 1.7 - 1.3 - .5 2.9 - 3.6 -15.6 -12.4 Germany (4) 5.9 3.4 - 2.3 - 2.5 .2 2.3 - 3.4 -16.2 -13.3 Italy 2.7 2.3 - .3 - .7 .4 4.9 2.1 - 7.5 - 9.5 Norway .6 3.1 2.4 2.7 - .3 4.5 3.9 - 5.3 - 8.8 Sweden 6.5 5.5 - 1.0 - 1.1 .1 4.3 - 2.1 -14.1 -12.2 United Kingdom .9 1.5 .5 .4 .1 3.9 2.9 8.0 4.9 (1) Value of foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar. (2) Productivity not available because adequate labor input measures have not been developed. (3) Labor input data have not been produced for 1994-1997 by the Danish national statistical agency. (4) Data relate to the former West Germany. NA=Not Available. Although the productivity measure relates output to the hours of persons employed in manufacturing, it does not measure the specific contributions of labor as a single factor of production. Rather, it reflects the joint effects of many influences, including new technology, capital investment, capacity utilization, energy use, and managerial skills, as well as the skills and efforts of the work force. Table B (pages 6-10) shows average annual percent changes for selected periods beginning in 1979. Annual indexes of the data are in tables 1-14 (pages 16-29). - 4 - Notes about the measures The measures in this news release are based on data available to BLS as of July 1998. The U.S. manufacturing output measure The output measure for the United States is the chain-weighted index of real gross product originating (deflated value-added), introduced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in August 1996. This series is based on annually changing price weights. The U.S. output data through 1996 were published by BEA in November 1997. The data incorporate the results of the comprehensive revision of the national income and product accounts (NIPA's) released in May 1997; the estimates for 1993-96 also incorporate the results of the annual NIPA revisions released in July 1997. For more information, see Sherlene K. S. Lum and Robert E. Yuskavage, "Gross Product by Industry, 1947-96," Survey of Current Business, November 1997, pp. 20-27. The estimate of output for 1997 was derived by BLS by extrapolating the 1996 estimate 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 in its news releases on quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs. While both series are based on annually-changing price weights, the quarterly U.S. manufacturing series is on a "sectoral" output basis rather than on a value added basis. Sectoral output is gross output less intra- sector transactions. (See William Gullickson, "Measurement of productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing," Monthly Labor Review, July 1995, pp. 13-28.) Revised Canadian data All of the Canadian data series used in these estimates incorporate revisions made available to BLS in July by Statistics Canada. One result was large changes in the total employment data. Productivity, output, and labor input The U.S. productivity growth rate was 4.6 percent in 1997, reflecting a 5.7 percent increase in output and a 1.1 percent increase in hours worked. Many of the foreign economies had a similar experience: Output increases provided most of the - 5 - productivity growth, with modest changes in hours worked partially offsetting or slightly augmenting the output increases. The exceptions were Canada and Norway, where productivity rates grew at less than half the rate of output because of increases in hours. Strong output growth was the rule in 1997, as all the economies except Korea outpaced their 1996 performances. For Korea, output grew at a strong 6.2 percent rate in 1997, off slightly from its 1996 increase of 7.5 percent. For only the second time since 1985, manufacturing output did not decline in any of the economies studied. The 5.7 percent output increase in the United States was within one percentage point of the largest increases, which occurred in Canada, Korea, and Taiwan. Most of the remaining economies posted moderate output growth in the 3 to 5 percent range, with only Italy and the United Kingdom failing to reach that level. Labor input is measured by total hours worked in manufacturing. For the fifth consecutive year, Canada and Norway increased labor input by 1-1/2 percent or more; these are the only two economies that have increased hours worked from 1990 levels. In contrast, the 2.3 percent decline in hours worked in Germany was the smallest drop in that country in the past five years. Since 1990, German manufacturing hours have fallen more than 20 percent. Hourly compensation and unit labor costs Hourly compensation costs in manufacturing - which include wages and salaries, supplements, and employer payments for social security and other employer-financed benefit plans - rose 3.5 percent in the United States in 1997, marking the third consecutive year that the increase in hourly compensation was greater than the previous year's increase. The U.S. increase in hourly compensation fell in the middle of the range of economies, with the largest increase in Italy and the smallest in Belgium. For the fourth consecutive year in 1997, U.S. productivity grew at a faster rate than hourly compensation, resulting in declining unit labor costs. In seven of the foreign economies, unit labor costs fell faster than the U.S. rate of -1.0 percent. Unit labor costs in U.S. dollars Changes in currency values relative to the U.S. dollar can have an important effect on changes in competitiveness, as measured by U.S. dollar-based unit labor costs. In 1997, the values of all but three currencies declined at least 8 percent relative to the dollar, and only the British pound increased in value. Because of the large foreign currency depreciations, all economies with declining currencies had unit labor costs that declined at a faster rate than in the United States, measured in dollar terms. Unit labor costs dipped more than 15 percent in Belgium, France, Germany, and Korea and by at least 5 percent elsewhere except in Canada and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, the strong pound helped push U.K. unit labor costs up 8 percent. (See chart 2). - 6 - Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-97 Average annual rates of change(1) Country 1979-97 1979-85 1985-90 1990-97 1994 1995 1996 1997 or area Output per hour United States 3.1 3.3 2.2 3.7 5.9 6.5 4.4 4.6 Canada 1.9 2.3 1.2 2.0 2.3 2.5 -1.6 2.7 Japan 3.6 3.5 4.3 3.2 1.3 7.4 2.3 6.1 Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Belgium 3.7 6.1 2.3 2.7 5.7 - .5 1.1 5.6 Denmark NA 2.1 .5 NA NA NA NA NA France 3.3 3.0 3.4 3.5 8.5 3.6 3.1 6.8 Germany(2) 2.5 2.0 2.2 3.2 7.2 3.7 4.2 5.9 Italy 3.7 4.9 2.6 3.4 2.8 6.0 .4 2.7 Netherlands NA 4.4 1.9 NA 12.0 4.8 2.5 NA Norway 1.6 2.4 1.4 .9 .8 .5 .6 .6 Sweden 3.4 3.0 1.8 5.0 8.8 5.4 2.5 6.5 United Kingdom 3.8 4.4 4.6 2.7 3.4 -1.5 -1.3 .9 - 7 - Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-97--continued Average annual rates of change(1) Country 1979-97 1979-85 1985-90 1990-97 1994 1995 1996 1997 or area Output United States 2.7 2.0 2.2 3.6 8.4 6.7 3.9 5.7 Canada 2.0 1.4 1.8 2.5 6.4 4.9 1.1 6.1 Japan 3.6 4.7 4.8 1.7 - .7 5.5 2.6 5.3 Korea 9.6 8.8 13.2 7.7 10.5 10.8 7.5 6.2 Taiwan 6.6 8.1 7.0 5.0 5.7 6.0 4.5 6.7 Belgium 2.0 2.6 2.6 1.1 4.5 3.1 .2 4.5 Denmark 1.5 2.9 - .2 1.5 1.2 5.0 2.9 4.4 France 1.1 - .4 2.6 1.2 5.3 3.9 2.1 5.0 Germany(2) .6 .2 2.3 - .3 1.8 .9 - .5 3.4 Italy 2.1 1.7 4.0 1.1 5.4 5.6 -1.3 2.3 Netherlands NA 1.8 3.0 NA 6.1 3.2 1.5 NA Norway .5 .6 -1.6 2.0 3.9 2.1 2.3 3.1 Sweden 2.4 2.2 1.2 3.5 14.1 12.5 2.2 5.5 United Kingdom .8 -1.2 3.4 .6 4.7 1.7 .3 1.5 Total hours United States -0.4 -1.2 0.0 0.0 2.4 0.3 -0.5 1.1 Canada .1 - .8 .6 .5 4.0 2.4 2.7 3.3 Japan .0 1.1 .5 -1.4 -2.0 -1.8 .2 - .8 Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Belgium -1.6 -3.3 .2 -1.5 -1.1 3.7 -1.0 -1.0 Denmark NA .8 - .6 NA NA NA NA NA France -2.2 -3.3 - .8 -2.2 -2.9 .3 - .9 -1.7 Germany(2) -1.9 -1.8 .2 -3.4 -5.0 -2.8 -4.5 -2.3 Italy -1.5 -3.1 1.3 -2.2 2.6 - .4 -1.7 - .3 Netherlands NA -2.5 1.1 NA -5.3 -1.5 -1.0 NA Norway -1.0 -1.8 -2.9 1.0 3.1 1.5 1.7 2.4 Sweden -1.0 - .8 - .5 -1.5 4.9 6.7 - .3 -1.0 United Kingdom -2.9 -5.3 -1.2 -2.0 1.2 3.2 1.6 .5 - 8 - Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-97--continued Average annual rates of change(1) Country 1979-97 1979-85 1985-90 1990-97 1994 1995 1996 1997 or area Employment United States -0.7 -1.4 -0.1 -0.4 1.3 1.1 -0.5 0.5 Canada - .1 - .8 .4 .3 3.4 2.8 2.5 3.2 Japan .4 1.2 .8 - .5 -2.0 -2.5 - .6 - .2 Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Belgium -1.6 -2.7 - .4 -1.4 -3.7 4.8 -1.4 -1.2 Denmark .0 1.0 - .2 - .7 .5 3.1 -1.3 1.4 France -1.8 -2.3 - .9 -2.1 -2.8 - .1 -1.2 -1.3 Germany(2) -1.1 -1.1 1.1 -2.8 -5.1 -2.2 -3.1 -2.5 Italy -1.7 -2.9 .3 -2.1 - .2 - .5 - .9 - .7 Netherlands NA -2.3 1.3 NA -5.3 -1.8 - .9 NA Norway -1.0 -1.8 -2.7 .9 2.8 2.4 2.0 2.7 Sweden -1.7 -1.2 - .8 -2.7 1.8 4.8 - .7 -1.1 United Kingdom -2.7 -4.9 -1.2 -2.0 .6 2.4 1.3 .4 Average hours United States 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.4 1.1 -0.8 0.0 0.6 Canada .1 .0 .2 .2 .5 - .4 .2 .1 Japan - .5 .0 - .3 - .9 .1 .7 .8 - .6 Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Belgium - .1 - .6 .7 - .1 2.7 -1.1 .4 .2 Denmark NA - .3 - .5 NA NA NA NA NA France - .3 -1.0 .1 .0 - .2 .4 .3 - .5 Germany(2) - .8 - .7 -1.0 - .7 .0 - .6 -1.4 .2 Italy .2 - .1 1.0 - .1 2.8 .1 - .8 .4 Netherlands NA - .3 - .2 NA .0 .3 - .1 NA Norway .0 .0 - .2 .1 .2 - .9 - .3 - .3 Sweden .7 .4 .3 1.2 3.1 1.8 .4 .1 United Kingdom - .2 - .5 .0 .0 .6 .8 .2 .1 - 9 - Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-97--continued Average annual rates of change(1) Country 1979-97 1979-85 1985-90 1990-97 1994 1995 1996 1997 or area Hourly compensation(3): National currency basis United States 4.8 7.1 3.9 3.5 2.6 2.9 3.2 3.5 Canada 5.2 8.3 4.9 2.8 .6 3.2 2.2 2.7 Japan 4.1 4.7 4.6 3.3 2.1 2.6 1.0 3.1 Korea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Taiwan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Belgium 5.1 7.8 3.8 3.8 3.3 3.0 2.2 2.1 Denmark NA 8.1 5.3 NA NA NA NA NA France 6.6 12.8 4.5 3.0 2.5 1.4 1.6 2.9 Germany(2) 5.3 5.9 5.0 5.1 5.5 5.3 5.0 2.3 Italy 9.7 16.7 6.9 5.9 - .5 5.4 6.3 4.9 Netherlands NA 4.9 2.1 NA 4.4 2.7 3.0 NA Norway 6.9 10.0 7.8 3.8 2.9 4.6 4.8 4.5 Sweden 7.2 9.6 8.5 4.4 3.1 5.0 6.8 4.3 United Kingdom 8.2 11.8 8.8 4.7 1.9 .4 2.1 3.9 Unit labor costs: National currency basis United States 1.6 3.7 1.6 -0.1 -3.1 -3.3 -1.2 -1.0 Canada 3.2 5.9 3.6 .8 -1.7 .7 3.9 - .1 Japan .5 1.2 .3 .1 .8 -4.5 -1.3 -2.9 Korea 4.7 9.2 6.0 .1 - .7 - .2 2.7 -4.7 Taiwan 3.7 7.3 3.5 .9 1.1 .1 - .2 -1.1 Belgium 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.0 -2.3 3.5 1.0 -3.3 Denmark 3.8 5.9 4.8 1.3 2.8 2.2 - .7 1.0 France 3.2 9.5 1.0 - .5 -5.5 -2.1 -1.4 -3.6 Germany(2) 2.7 3.8 2.7 1.8 -1.6 1.5 .8 -3.4 Italy 5.8 11.2 4.2 2.4 -3.2 - .5 5.9 2.1 Netherlands NA .5 .2 NA -6.9 -2.0 .6 NA Norway 5.3 7.4 6.4 2.8 2.1 4.0 4.2 3.9 Sweden 3.7 6.4 6.6 - .6 -5.2 - .3 4.2 -2.1 United Kingdom 4.2 7.1 4.0 2.0 -1.4 1.9 3.4 2.9 - 10 - Table B. Output per hour, hourly compensation, unit labor costs, and related measures Manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1979-97--continued Average annual rates of change(1) Country 1979-97 1979-85 1985-90 1990-97 1994 1995 1996 1997 or area Unit labor costs: U.S. dollar basis United States 1.6 3.7 1.6 -0.1 -3.1 -3.3 -1.2 -1.0 Canada 2.3 3.2 7.0 -1.6 -7.2 .3 4.5 -1.6 Japan 3.9 - .3 10.8 2.8 9.5 3.8 -14.8 -12.7 Korea .9 - .9 10.5 -4.0 - .8 3.9 -1.5 -19.4 Taiwan 5.0 5.5 12.0 .0 .9 - .1 -3.7 -5.6 Belgium .2 -9.7 13.8 .1 1.1 17.4 -3.8 -16.4 Denmark 2.5 -5.8 16.6 .3 4.9 16.0 -4.1 -11.3 France 1.4 -3.3 11.7 -1.5 -3.4 8.9 -3.9 -15.6 Germany(2) 3.0 -4.1 15.8 .8 .4 15.0 -4.1 -16.2 Italy 1.6 -3.2 14.3 -2.6 -5.5 -1.6 11.8 -7.5 Netherlands NA -7.6 12.9 NA -4.8 11.1 -4.3 NA Norway 3.3 -1.7 13.3 1.0 2.7 15.8 2.2 -5.3 Sweden .4 -5.2 14.8 -4.2 -4.3 7.7 10.9 -14.1 United Kingdom 2.8 -1.3 10.8 .8 .6 5.0 2.3 8.0 Exchange rates(4) United States 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Canada - .9 -2.5 3.2 -2.4 -5.6 - .4 .6 -1.5 Japan 3.3 -1.5 10.5 2.6 8.7 8.7 -13.6 -10.1 Korea -3.7 -9.3 4.2 -4.1 - .1 4.2 -4.1 -15.4 Taiwan 1.3 -1.7 8.2 - .9 - .2 - .1 -3.5 -4.5 Belgium -1.1 -11.1 12.2 -1.0 3.5 13.4 -4.8 -13.5 Denmark -1.3 -11.0 11.4 - .9 2.0 13.5 -3.5 -12.2 France -1.7 -11.7 10.5 -1.0 2.2 11.2 -2.5 -12.4 Germany(2) .3 -7.6 12.7 -1.0 2.0 13.2 -4.8 -13.3 Italy -3.9 -12.9 9.8 -4.9 -2.4 -1.1 5.6 -9.5 Netherlands .2 -8.0 12.7 -1.0 2.2 13.4 -4.9 -13.6 Norway -1.8 -8.4 6.6 -1.8 .6 11.4 -1.9 -8.8 Sweden -3.2 -11.0 7.8 -3.6 1.0 8.1 6.4 -12.2 United Kingdom -1.4 -7.9 6.6 -1.2 2.0 3.0 -1.1 4.9 (1)Rates of change based on the compound (3) Adjusted to include employment taxes rate method. that are not compensation to employees but are labor costs to employers. (2)Data relate to the former West Germany. (4) Value of foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar. NA = Not available. - 11 - Trade-weighted unit labor costs Because the economies covered by the BLS comparative data differ greatly in their relative importance to U.S. trade in manufactured goods, BLS constructs indexes of U.S. unit labor cost trends relative to a trade-weighted average of unit labor cost trends in the other economies. (See chart 3.) The construction of the indexes shown in chart 3 is a three-step process. First, the indexes of unit labor costs for all economies are rebased to a common year (in this case 1979=100). Second, for each year, a "competitors" index is calculated as the weighted geometric mean of the indexes for all competitor economies. Finally, the U.S. index number for each year is divided by the competitors index number (and multiplied by 100) to obtain a relative ratio of the United States to the competitors. This process is used to calculate the relative trade-weighted unit labor cost indexes on both a national currency and a U.S. dollar basis. Chart 3 relates the growth of U.S. unit labor costs to the growth of foreign competitors' costs. The solid line indicates that U.S. unit labor costs rose faster than competitors' costs between 1979 and 1985 on a U.S. dollar basis. In most years between 1985 and 1995, U.S. costs either rose at a slower rate than the competitors' costs or fell at a faster rate. Since 1995, however, the strength of the U.S. dollar has once again caused relative U.S. unit labor costs to rise. The data underlying this chart are shown in table C. Chart 3. U.S. manufacturing unit labor costs relative to 12 competitors, 1979-97 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT - 12 - Table C. U.S. manufacturing unit labor costs relative to 12 competitors, 1979-97 National Currency Basis U.S. Dollar Basis U.S. Competitors' U.S. Competitors' Index Index Ratio Index Index Ratio 1979 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1980 112.3 112.0 100.2 112.3 110.5 101.6 1981 117.6 121.2 97.0 117.6 110.3 106.6 1982 125.1 129.5 96.6 125.1 106.7 117.3 1983 122.8 131.6 93.3 122.8 105.3 116.6 1984 122.2 132.3 92.4 122.2 100.1 122.0 1985 124.2 133.6 92.9 124.2 97.9 126.8 1986 128.9 139.1 92.7 128.9 122.4 105.3 1987 124.1 141.0 88.0 124.1 140.2 88.5 1988 124.3 142.3 87.3 124.3 152.9 81.3 1989 129.4 146.1 88.6 129.4 152.8 84.7 1990 134.7 151.7 88.7 134.7 163.6 82.3 1991 141.0 157.9 89.3 141.0 173.0 81.5 1992 144.7 162.1 89.2 144.7 180.8 80.0 1993 145.9 163.7 89.1 145.9 178.2 81.8 1994 141.3 162.0 87.3 141.3 179.1 78.9 1995 136.7 160.5 85.2 136.7 187.1 73.0 1996 135.0 162.6 83.0 135.0 180.1 75.0 1997 133.7 160.1 83.5 133.7 164.1 81.4 - 16 - Table 1. Output per hour in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 NA 28.0 NA NA NA NA 22.6 13.9 13.2 11.2 12.3 24.5 19.7 24.7 1955 NA 34.3 8.7 NA NA NA 24.6 17.6 19.7 15.6 15.4 28.5 21.6 26.6 1960 NA 40.7 14.0 NA NA 17.8 29.9 23.0 29.1 19.6 19.5 36.7 27.6 30.2 1961 NA 42.9 15.8 NA NA 18.1 31.6 24.5 30.5 21.2 20.6 38.0 29.0 30.2 1962 NA 46.3 16.6 NA NA 19.0 33.2 26.1 32.7 23.4 21.2 38.0 31.3 30.9 1963 NA 48.1 18.0 NA NA 19.8 34.3 27.5 34.1 24.1 21.9 40.0 33.1 32.5 1964 NA 50.4 20.4 NA NA 21.0 37.1 29.7 37.0 24.3 23.9 42.2 36.0 34.7 1965 NA 52.9 21.2 NA NA 22.1 38.9 31.8 39.3 27.1 25.4 44.7 38.7 35.7 1966 NA 53.7 23.3 NA NA 23.6 40.8 34.4 40.9 29.4 27.0 46.6 40.3 36.9 1967 NA 54.3 26.3 NA NA 24.9 43.8 36.5 43.4 30.9 28.9 48.3 43.7 38.6 1968 NA 57.6 29.5 NA NA 27.1 47.8 40.3 47.0 33.3 32.3 51.3 47.8 41.4 1969 NA 60.5 33.8 NA NA 29.6 49.8 42.9 50.3 34.5 35.3 56.1 51.5 42.4 1970 NA 59.2 38.0 NA NA 32.7 52.7 45.5 52.0 36.8 38.6 57.8 52.8 43.3 1971 NA 62.7 40.2 NA NA 34.6 56.3 48.2 54.0 37.4 40.9 60.1 55.1 45.4 1972 NA 65.6 44.1 NA NA 38.6 60.8 50.4 57.4 40.5 44.1 63.6 57.9 47.9 1973 NA 69.6 48.1 NA NA 42.6 66.9 53.9 61.0 43.9 48.8 67.6 62.1 51.4 1974 NA 70.8 49.3 NA NA 45.0 69.1 55.1 63.2 46.7 52.4 70.6 64.8 52.2 1975 NA 68.1 50.7 NA NA 46.8 76.1 57.0 65.8 45.2 51.6 69.7 65.8 51.1 1976 NA 73.0 53.8 NA NA 51.6 78.8 60.5 70.6 51.4 57.1 71.9 66.8 53.3 1977 70.5 77.1 55.9 NA NA 54.1 80.4 64.1 72.8 52.4 61.8 71.5 65.8 53.8 1978 71.1 78.4 58.1 NA NA 57.4 81.6 67.0 75.3 55.8 65.9 72.8 67.6 54.5 1979 72.1 78.3 62.9 NA NA 60.5 85.6 70.1 78.6 61.2 69.2 78.1 72.9 55.0 1980 71.9 75.2 63.9 NA NA 64.5 90.3 70.5 77.2 64.0 69.8 76.7 74.0 54.4 1981 75.4 77.0 66.0 NA NA 68.9 91.8 72.6 78.8 65.5 71.4 76.5 73.5 57.2 1982 77.7 75.2 68.7 NA NA 72.9 92.1 77.7 78.4 66.6 72.6 79.7 76.7 60.3 1983 81.3 79.7 69.6 NA NA 80.6 96.6 79.4 82.5 70.2 78.4 82.4 81.8 65.0 1984 84.5 86.5 71.9 NA NA 84.6 96.1 80.7 85.4 77.1 86.1 87.4 85.6 68.5 1985 87.7 89.7 77.3 NA NA 86.3 96.7 83.8 88.8 81.5 89.7 90.2 87.1 71.1 1986 88.2 89.2 76.9 NA NA 87.6 91.1 85.2 89.4 82.6 91.0 89.0 88.5 73.9 1987 94.3 91.1 81.2 NA NA 88.7 90.6 86.7 88.3 85.0 91.7 93.3 90.1 78.1 1988 97.8 91.0 84.8 NA NA 91.8 94.1 92.7 91.5 86.6 93.8 92.1 90.8 82.6 1989 97.0 92.4 89.5 NA NA 96.7 99.6 97.4 94.3 89.4 97.1 94.6 93.8 86.2 1990 97.7 95.2 95.4 NA NA 96.9 99.1 99.1 98.9 92.8 98.5 96.6 95.0 89.2 1991 98.2 95.0 99.4 NA NA 99.1 99.6 98.7 101.8 95.3 99.6 97.5 95.0 93.9 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 102.1 103.3 100.5 NA NA 104.1 105.5 101.8 100.7 104.5 101.9 100.6 106.7 105.6 1994 108.1 105.7 101.8 NA NA 110.0 NA 110.4 108.0 107.4 114.2 101.4 116.1 109.2 1995 115.1 108.4 109.3 NA NA 109.4 NA 114.3 112.0 113.9 119.6 102.0 122.4 107.6 1996 120.2 106.6 111.9 NA NA 110.6 NA 117.9 116.7 114.4 122.6 102.6 125.4 106.2 1997 125.6 109.6 118.8 NA NA 116.8 NA 125.9 123.6 117.4 NA 103.2 133.6 107.2 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 17 - Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 NA 30.0 NA NA NA NA 31.8 17.0 19.2 12.3 16.0 32.0 25.6 29.0 1955 NA 35.5 10.4 NA NA NA 34.0 21.2 28.8 17.7 20.1 37.3 27.9 31.7 1960 NA 41.8 17.3 NA NA 22.4 39.2 27.7 38.4 22.4 25.8 46.2 33.7 35.3 1961 NA 43.8 19.3 NA NA 22.7 40.2 29.6 39.6 23.9 26.0 47.2 35.1 34.8 1962 NA 47.7 19.8 NA NA 23.9 42.6 31.4 41.3 25.7 26.6 47.0 37.5 35.2 1963 NA 49.7 21.2 NA NA 24.8 43.3 33.1 42.4 26.5 27.5 49.2 39.3 37.1 1964 NA 52.3 24.0 NA NA 26.3 47.2 35.5 46.1 26.8 29.6 52.3 42.3 39.8 1965 NA 54.9 24.5 NA NA 27.2 49.5 37.6 48.7 28.8 31.4 54.1 45.1 40.4 1966 NA 55.4 27.0 NA NA 28.8 51.0 40.9 50.0 31.6 33.2 56.6 47.0 41.0 1967 NA 55.9 30.6 NA NA 30.1 54.1 43.0 51.7 33.7 35.4 58.1 50.1 42.6 1968 NA 59.2 34.2 NA NA 32.7 57.7 46.2 56.6 36.4 38.8 60.1 53.6 46.1 1969 NA 62.0 38.6 NA NA 35.4 59.3 50.3 60.7 37.4 41.9 64.3 56.8 47.2 1970 NA 60.3 43.0 NA NA 38.0 60.8 52.7 62.4 39.1 44.9 65.7 58.1 47.5 1971 NA 63.6 44.8 NA NA 39.7 64.6 55.3 63.4 38.6 47.1 67.6 60.5 48.6 1972 NA 66.7 48.9 NA NA 43.2 68.4 57.2 66.6 41.6 50.1 70.6 61.8 50.8 1973 NA 70.2 52.8 NA NA 46.6 71.2 60.3 70.4 45.6 54.4 74.6 65.2 55.2 1974 NA 70.9 52.0 NA NA 47.9 75.0 60.9 71.4 46.8 56.6 76.9 67.3 54.3 1975 NA 67.4 52.2 NA NA 47.1 79.9 61.1 72.5 44.5 54.7 75.6 67.0 53.0 1976 NA 72.3 57.0 NA NA 52.9 83.2 65.1 79.9 50.6 60.4 76.0 67.2 55.7 1977 69.2 76.3 59.4 NA NA 55.3 84.1 68.3 81.1 51.4 65.1 74.4 65.6 56.6 1978 69.8 78.1 62.0 NA NA 58.5 84.3 70.8 82.8 54.6 68.7 73.9 65.7 57.2 1979 70.3 77.7 67.5 NA NA 61.7 88.4 73.9 86.0 59.4 71.3 78.0 69.8 57.4 1980 69.3 74.0 68.6 NA NA 64.7 93.9 74.3 83.5 62.2 72.4 77.1 70.1 54.9 1981 72.7 75.8 70.3 NA NA 67.5 94.3 75.5 84.1 63.7 74.4 76.9 70.1 56.8 1982 73.6 73.5 73.0 NA NA 73.1 96.0 77.5 83.7 64.7 76.5 79.4 73.4 60.5 1983 79.1 79.0 74.0 NA NA 78.7 102.1 79.0 87.9 68.2 82.6 82.5 79.2 65.4 1984 83.5 85.7 77.3 NA NA 82.1 101.2 80.3 90.9 74.8 89.5 87.4 84.4 69.5 1985 86.6 89.1 82.8 NA NA 85.0 98.4 82.9 93.1 78.4 90.8 89.8 85.2 72.2 1986 87.1 88.9 81.9 NA NA 86.3 94.9 84.4 93.0 81.4 91.8 88.7 86.3 74.9 1987 93.5 91.5 86.7 NA NA 88.2 92.2 86.5 91.3 85.3 92.0 90.7 88.9 79.7 1988 98.0 92.9 91.7 NA NA 92.7 95.8 92.8 94.4 90.0 94.8 90.3 89.4 84.7 1989 97.2 93.4 95.6 NA NA 97.2 100.2 97.3 96.2 92.8 97.6 93.3 92.1 88.2 1990 97.2 95.6 100.5 NA NA 98.6 98.4 98.5 98.8 94.0 99.0 95.1 94.3 90.7 1991 97.0 94.9 102.5 NA NA 99.1 99.3 98.3 101.0 95.4 99.8 96.4 94.3 93.8 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 103.4 104.8 98.1 NA NA 102.5 104.7 100.9 97.6 102.5 101.9 100.9 109.5 105.2 1994 110.7 107.8 99.5 NA NA 111.3 105.4 109.3 104.7 108.2 114.2 102.0 122.7 109.5 1995 116.9 110.0 107.6 NA NA 109.5 107.4 113.7 108.0 114.8 120.0 101.6 131.7 108.7 1996 122.0 108.5 111.0 NA NA 111.2 111.8 117.5 110.9 114.4 122.8 101.9 135.5 107.6 1997 128.4 111.5 117.1 NA NA 117.7 115.1 125.0 117.7 117.9 NA 102.2 144.5 108.6 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 18 - Table 3. Output in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 NA 22.6 2.2 NA NA NA 26.8 19.2 14.5 9.4 16.9 38.2 31.2 49.9 1955 NA 29.3 4.9 NA NA NA 29.4 24.0 27.5 14.6 23.1 46.7 36.1 58.6 1960 NA 34.2 10.7 NA NA 30.7 40.8 32.4 41.5 21.5 31.9 56.5 46.5 67.8 1961 NA 35.6 12.8 NA NA 32.1 43.0 34.8 44.0 23.7 33.0 58.8 49.6 67.9 1962 NA 39.7 13.9 NA NA 34.6 46.7 37.3 46.2 26.2 34.6 59.3 53.4 68.1 1963 NA 42.4 15.5 NA NA 36.2 47.3 40.2 47.1 27.9 36.1 62.9 56.0 70.4 1964 NA 46.5 18.0 NA NA 39.5 52.9 43.9 51.2 28.3 39.5 67.3 61.0 76.9 1965 NA 51.0 18.7 NA NA 40.8 56.3 46.0 55.0 29.7 42.2 70.9 65.3 79.1 1966 NA 54.4 21.2 NA NA 43.2 57.5 50.3 55.9 32.4 44.5 75.1 67.1 80.4 1967 NA 55.5 25.4 NA NA 43.7 58.1 52.7 54.7 35.7 46.3 77.5 69.3 81.0 1968 NA 59.1 29.3 NA NA 46.7 62.6 55.6 60.3 39.0 50.7 79.4 72.9 86.7 1969 NA 63.1 34.1 NA NA 52.2 66.0 62.3 67.4 41.5 55.6 85.2 78.6 90.0 1970 NA 60.5 38.8 6.4 13.2 57.6 68.0 66.9 70.9 44.8 59.8 89.1 81.7 90.4 1971 NA 64.3 40.7 7.6 16.2 60.1 69.4 71.1 71.6 45.5 61.8 92.3 82.2 89.4 1972 NA 69.7 44.4 8.6 19.5 64.7 75.3 74.5 73.8 48.0 63.5 96.7 82.7 91.3 1973 NA 76.8 50.0 11.2 22.9 70.6 79.5 80.1 78.5 54.1 68.0 102.2 88.5 99.7 1974 NA 78.7 48.7 13.1 21.7 73.4 80.7 81.7 77.7 57.6 70.5 107.3 93.3 98.4 1975 NA 73.0 46.2 14.4 22.6 67.9 78.7 80.0 74.1 54.3 65.9 105.0 93.6 91.7 1976 NA 78.9 50.2 18.2 27.7 73.0 82.5 84.7 79.8 62.4 69.9 105.2 93.6 93.4 1977 74.9 81.5 51.8 21.0 31.2 73.3 82.9 88.6 81.3 64.6 73.4 103.0 88.3 95.2 1978 78.7 86.1 53.3 25.7 37.7 74.3 82.7 90.7 82.8 67.8 75.7 100.6 85.9 95.7 1979 81.3 89.5 57.9 28.3 40.7 76.2 87.4 93.3 87.1 74.8 77.6 104.7 91.4 95.5 1980 77.3 85.4 59.9 27.8 44.7 78.2 91.3 92.7 85.3 78.7 77.8 103.6 91.8 87.2 1981 80.7 87.5 62.1 30.7 48.1 77.2 88.4 91.2 84.4 77.1 77.8 101.7 88.9 81.9 1982 76.2 77.7 64.1 32.8 49.1 80.4 89.8 92.1 81.5 75.9 76.9 101.3 89.8 81.8 1983 80.5 81.8 66.1 37.8 54.8 84.6 95.8 92.0 82.7 76.6 79.3 99.9 95.0 83.5 1984 89.1 92.7 70.4 42.5 62.7 87.2 100.3 90.9 85.2 80.0 83.8 104.7 101.7 86.6 1985 91.8 97.5 76.1 46.9 64.8 88.9 103.5 91.2 88.3 82.6 86.2 108.5 103.9 89.0 1986 91.0 98.6 74.9 56.1 74.6 89.0 103.5 91.2 89.7 84.8 88.3 108.1 105.2 90.2 1987 97.9 103.2 78.4 67.1 84.4 88.7 99.3 91.1 88.0 88.5 89.5 110.7 107.7 94.5 1988 104.5 109.3 84.6 76.3 87.9 93.1 100.8 96.3 90.9 94.8 92.8 105.3 110.2 101.5 1989 104.0 110.8 90.2 79.5 91.2 98.9 104.3 101.6 94.0 98.6 96.9 101.3 111.6 105.5 1990 102.5 106.6 96.3 87.2 90.8 101.0 102.7 103.5 99.1 100.4 100.1 100.2 110.6 105.4 1991 98.7 98.8 101.4 95.2 96.9 100.7 101.7 101.7 102.8 99.7 100.6 98.3 103.6 100.1 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 1993 103.5 105.9 96.0 105.0 102.5 96.9 100.0 96.2 91.8 96.6 98.2 102.7 101.3 101.5 1994 112.2 112.7 95.4 116.0 108.4 101.4 101.2 101.3 93.5 101.9 104.2 106.7 115.7 106.2 1995 119.8 118.3 100.6 128.5 114.9 104.5 106.2 105.3 94.3 107.5 107.5 109.0 130.1 108.0 1996 124.5 119.5 103.2 138.1 120.0 104.7 109.3 107.5 93.8 106.1 109.1 111.4 132.9 108.3 1997 131.6 126.8 108.6 146.7 128.0 109.4 114.0 112.8 97.0 108.6 NA 114.8 140.3 109.9 NA: Not Available Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 19 - Table 4. Total hours in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 85.6 80.8 NA NA NA NA 118.7 138.6 110.0 84.2 137.3 156.0 158.5 202.2 1955 94.7 85.2 55.9 NA NA NA 119.8 136.4 139.9 93.3 150.2 164.1 167.3 220.2 1960 92.2 84.2 76.3 NA NA 172.1 136.5 140.6 142.6 109.6 163.3 154.0 168.3 224.6 1961 89.8 83.0 80.8 NA NA 177.4 136.2 142.0 144.1 111.8 160.4 154.8 171.0 224.7 1962 93.5 85.9 83.4 NA NA 181.9 140.7 143.0 141.2 111.7 163.4 156.2 170.8 220.3 1963 94.5 88.0 86.1 NA NA 183.4 138.0 146.1 138.2 115.9 164.5 157.3 169.1 216.6 1964 96.5 92.3 88.2 NA NA 188.1 142.6 147.7 138.4 116.2 165.5 159.5 169.6 221.7 1965 102.1 96.5 88.0 NA NA 184.8 144.9 145.0 140.1 109.7 166.5 158.4 168.8 221.5 1966 108.7 101.2 91.0 NA NA 183.1 140.8 146.3 136.8 110.3 165.0 161.1 166.5 218.2 1967 108.1 102.2 96.3 NA NA 175.1 132.7 144.2 126.0 115.4 160.2 160.4 158.4 209.8 1968 109.7 102.6 99.4 NA NA 172.4 130.9 137.8 128.4 117.0 157.0 154.9 152.6 209.6 1969 111.0 104.3 100.9 NA NA 176.4 132.7 145.1 133.9 120.2 157.3 152.0 152.5 212.4 1970 104.5 102.2 102.3 NA NA 176.3 129.0 147.0 136.3 121.8 155.1 154.3 154.7 208.8 1971 100.6 102.6 101.1 NA NA 173.8 123.3 147.6 132.4 121.6 151.2 153.6 149.1 196.9 1972 105.2 106.2 100.6 NA NA 167.7 123.8 147.9 128.7 118.5 143.9 152.1 142.9 190.5 1973 110.5 110.4 104.0 NA NA 165.6 118.8 148.7 128.6 123.4 139.3 151.2 142.5 194.1 1974 108.1 111.2 98.7 NA NA 163.2 116.7 148.2 122.9 123.4 134.6 152.0 144.0 188.5 1975 97.3 107.1 91.1 NA NA 145.1 103.5 140.3 112.6 120.3 127.8 150.5 142.3 179.3 1976 102.0 108.1 93.3 NA NA 141.7 104.7 140.0 113.0 121.5 122.4 146.2 140.2 175.1 1977 106.2 105.8 92.5 NA NA 135.4 103.1 138.2 111.6 123.2 118.8 144.1 134.2 176.9 1978 110.7 109.7 91.6 NA NA 129.4 101.4 135.4 110.0 121.4 114.8 138.3 127.1 175.4 1979 112.8 114.3 92.0 NA NA 126.0 102.1 133.0 110.8 122.4 112.2 134.1 125.5 173.7 1980 107.6 113.6 93.8 NA NA 121.4 101.1 131.5 110.5 123.0 111.4 135.0 124.0 160.5 1981 107.1 113.6 94.1 NA NA 112.1 96.3 125.7 107.1 117.8 109.1 133.0 121.0 143.3 1982 98.0 103.3 93.3 NA NA 110.2 97.5 118.6 103.8 113.9 105.8 127.1 117.2 135.6 1983 99.0 102.5 95.0 NA NA 104.9 99.2 115.8 100.2 109.1 101.2 121.2 116.1 128.4 1984 105.4 107.1 97.9 NA NA 103.1 104.4 112.7 99.8 103.8 97.4 119.7 118.9 126.4 1985 104.7 108.7 98.4 NA NA 103.0 107.0 108.9 99.5 101.4 96.1 120.2 119.4 125.2 1986 103.1 110.6 97.3 NA NA 101.6 113.7 107.2 100.3 102.7 97.0 121.6 118.9 122.0 1987 103.9 113.2 96.6 NA NA 100.0 109.6 105.1 99.7 104.1 97.6 118.6 119.5 121.0 1988 106.8 120.2 99.8 NA NA 101.5 107.2 104.0 99.3 109.5 98.9 114.3 121.4 122.8 1989 107.2 120.0 100.8 NA NA 102.3 104.7 104.4 99.6 110.2 99.7 107.1 119.0 122.4 1990 104.9 112.0 100.9 NA NA 104.3 103.7 104.5 100.2 108.2 101.6 103.7 116.4 118.1 1991 100.6 103.9 102.0 NA NA 101.6 102.1 103.0 101.0 104.6 101.0 100.8 109.0 106.6 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 101.4 102.5 95.6 NA NA 93.2 94.8 94.5 91.2 92.4 96.4 102.1 94.9 96.1 1994 103.8 106.6 93.7 NA NA 92.2 NA 91.8 86.6 94.8 91.3 105.2 99.6 97.3 1995 104.1 109.1 92.0 NA NA 95.6 NA 92.0 84.2 94.4 89.8 106.9 106.3 100.4 1996 103.6 112.1 92.2 NA NA 94.6 NA 91.2 80.4 92.8 89.0 108.6 106.0 102.0 1997 104.7 115.8 91.4 NA NA 93.7 NA 89.7 78.5 92.5 NA 111.3 105.0 102.5 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 20 - Table 5. Employment in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 84.4 75.2 NA NA NA NA 84.4 113.5 75.2 76.4 105.4 119.3 122.0 171.7 1955 93.1 82.3 47.1 NA NA NA 86.7 113.1 95.5 82.5 115.0 125.2 129.7 184.7 1960 92.6 81.9 61.7 NA NA 136.8 104.1 116.6 108.1 95.9 123.8 122.2 137.8 192.2 1961 90.0 81.2 66.4 NA NA 141.3 107.0 117.5 111.3 98.9 126.8 124.8 141.3 194.9 1962 92.9 83.4 70.0 NA NA 144.5 109.7 118.7 111.8 102.0 130.1 126.3 142.2 193.1 1963 93.5 85.2 72.8 NA NA 145.9 109.3 121.2 111.0 105.3 131.4 127.8 142.4 190.0 1964 94.9 88.9 75.0 NA NA 150.1 112.0 123.5 111.0 105.6 133.5 128.8 144.3 193.0 1965 99.3 93.0 76.1 NA NA 150.0 113.9 122.3 113.0 103.1 134.7 130.9 144.8 195.5 1966 105.4 98.3 78.3 NA NA 149.8 112.8 122.9 111.8 102.5 134.2 132.8 143.0 196.0 1967 106.7 99.2 82.8 NA NA 145.2 107.5 122.4 105.8 105.9 130.9 133.5 138.3 190.0 1968 108.5 99.8 85.7 NA NA 142.8 108.5 120.3 106.6 107.3 130.5 132.0 136.0 188.2 1969 110.6 101.8 88.2 NA NA 147.6 111.4 123.8 111.0 110.9 132.7 132.6 138.4 190.7 1970 106.3 100.3 90.3 NA NA 151.5 111.9 127.0 113.6 114.6 133.3 135.6 140.6 190.4 1971 102.2 101.1 90.7 NA NA 151.6 107.3 128.6 112.9 117.6 131.2 136.4 135.9 183.9 1972 105.0 104.5 90.8 NA NA 149.7 110.1 130.1 110.8 115.4 126.7 136.9 133.8 179.6 1973 110.5 109.5 94.6 NA NA 151.6 111.6 132.9 111.5 118.7 125.0 136.9 135.8 180.6 1974 110.1 111.0 93.7 NA NA 153.3 107.6 134.3 108.9 123.1 124.7 139.5 138.7 181.3 1975 100.7 108.3 88.5 NA NA 144.0 98.5 130.9 102.2 122.1 120.6 138.7 139.8 173.1 1976 104.3 109.1 88.0 NA NA 138.1 99.2 130.2 99.9 123.3 115.7 138.4 139.4 167.5 1977 108.2 106.9 87.1 NA NA 132.6 98.5 129.7 100.3 125.7 112.8 138.5 134.5 168.1 1978 112.7 110.2 85.9 NA NA 127.0 98.0 128.2 100.0 124.1 110.1 136.1 130.7 167.4 1979 115.6 115.2 85.7 NA NA 123.6 98.8 126.2 101.2 126.1 108.9 134.2 131.0 166.4 1980 111.6 115.5 87.4 NA NA 120.9 97.2 124.7 102.2 126.4 107.5 134.5 130.9 159.0 1981 111.0 115.4 88.3 NA NA 114.3 93.8 120.7 100.3 121.1 104.7 132.3 127.0 144.0 1982 103.5 105.7 87.9 NA NA 110.0 93.6 118.8 97.4 117.3 100.5 127.5 122.4 135.1 1983 101.8 103.5 89.3 NA NA 107.4 93.9 116.5 94.1 112.4 96.0 121.0 119.9 127.5 1984 106.8 108.1 91.1 NA NA 106.2 99.1 113.1 93.7 106.9 93.7 119.8 120.5 124.6 1985 106.0 109.5 91.9 NA NA 104.6 105.2 110.0 94.9 105.4 94.9 120.7 122.0 123.3 1986 104.5 111.0 91.4 NA NA 103.1 109.1 108.1 96.4 104.1 96.2 122.0 121.9 120.4 1987 104.7 112.8 90.4 NA NA 100.6 107.7 105.4 96.4 103.7 97.3 122.0 121.1 118.7 1988 106.6 117.7 92.4 NA NA 100.4 105.3 103.9 96.3 105.3 97.9 116.6 123.3 119.8 1989 107.0 118.7 94.3 NA NA 101.7 104.1 104.4 97.6 106.3 99.2 108.7 121.2 119.6 1990 105.5 111.5 95.8 NA NA 102.5 104.3 105.1 100.3 106.8 101.1 105.4 117.2 116.2 1991 101.8 104.1 98.9 NA NA 101.6 102.4 103.4 101.8 104.5 100.8 101.9 109.9 106.7 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 100.1 101.1 97.9 NA NA 94.6 95.5 95.3 94.0 94.3 96.4 101.8 92.6 96.5 1994 101.3 104.5 95.9 NA NA 91.1 96.0 92.7 89.3 94.1 91.3 104.7 94.2 97.0 1995 102.5 107.5 93.5 NA NA 95.5 99.0 92.6 87.3 93.6 89.6 107.2 98.8 99.4 1996 102.0 110.2 92.9 NA NA 94.2 97.7 91.5 84.6 92.8 88.8 109.4 98.1 100.7 1997 102.5 113.7 92.7 NA NA 93.0 99.1 90.3 82.4 92.1 NA 112.4 97.1 101.2 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 21 - Table 6. Average annual hours in manufacturing, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 101.5 107.4 NA NA NA NA 140.7 122.1 146.3 110.2 130.3 130.8 129.9 117.8 1955 101.6 103.4 118.7 NA NA NA 138.2 120.7 146.4 113.0 130.6 131.1 129.0 119.2 1960 99.6 102.8 123.5 NA NA 125.8 131.2 120.5 131.9 114.3 131.9 126.0 122.1 116.8 1961 99.7 102.2 121.6 NA NA 125.5 127.3 120.9 129.5 113.1 126.5 124.1 121.1 115.3 1962 100.7 103.0 119.2 NA NA 125.8 128.3 120.5 126.3 109.5 125.6 123.7 120.1 114.1 1963 101.0 103.3 118.2 NA NA 125.7 126.3 120.5 124.4 110.0 125.2 123.1 118.8 114.0 1964 101.7 103.8 117.6 NA NA 125.3 127.4 119.7 124.7 110.0 124.0 123.9 117.5 114.9 1965 102.8 103.8 115.6 NA NA 123.2 127.2 118.6 124.0 106.4 123.6 121.0 116.6 113.3 1966 103.1 103.0 116.2 NA NA 122.2 124.8 119.1 122.4 107.6 122.9 121.3 116.4 111.3 1967 101.3 103.1 116.3 NA NA 120.7 123.4 117.8 119.1 109.1 122.4 120.2 114.5 110.5 1968 101.1 102.9 116.0 NA NA 120.7 120.6 114.6 120.5 109.1 120.2 117.3 112.2 111.4 1969 100.3 102.5 114.4 NA NA 119.5 119.1 117.2 120.6 108.3 118.5 114.6 110.2 111.4 1970 98.3 101.8 113.3 NA NA 116.3 115.3 115.7 119.9 106.4 116.4 113.8 110.0 109.7 1971 98.5 101.5 111.4 NA NA 114.6 114.9 114.8 117.3 103.4 115.3 112.6 109.7 107.1 1972 100.2 101.6 110.8 NA NA 112.0 112.4 113.6 116.2 102.7 113.6 111.0 106.8 106.1 1973 100.0 100.8 109.9 NA NA 109.3 106.4 111.9 115.3 103.9 111.4 110.4 104.9 107.5 1974 98.1 100.1 105.3 NA NA 106.4 108.5 110.4 112.9 100.3 108.0 108.9 103.8 104.0 1975 96.7 98.9 103.0 NA NA 100.7 105.1 107.1 110.2 98.5 106.0 108.5 101.8 103.6 1976 97.8 99.0 106.0 NA NA 102.6 105.6 107.5 113.1 98.5 105.8 105.7 100.6 104.5 1977 98.2 98.9 106.2 NA NA 102.1 104.6 106.5 111.3 98.0 105.3 104.0 99.8 105.2 1978 98.2 99.5 106.7 NA NA 101.9 103.4 105.6 109.9 97.8 104.3 101.6 97.2 104.8 1979 97.6 99.3 107.3 NA NA 102.0 103.3 105.4 109.4 97.1 103.1 99.9 95.8 104.4 1980 96.4 98.3 107.3 NA NA 100.4 104.0 105.4 108.1 97.3 103.7 100.4 94.8 100.9 1981 96.5 98.4 106.5 NA NA 98.1 102.7 104.1 106.8 97.3 104.2 100.6 95.3 99.5 1982 94.7 97.7 106.2 NA NA 100.2 104.2 99.8 106.6 97.1 105.3 99.7 95.7 100.4 1983 97.3 99.1 106.4 NA NA 97.7 105.6 99.4 106.5 97.1 105.4 100.1 96.8 100.7 1984 98.7 99.1 107.4 NA NA 97.1 105.3 99.6 106.5 97.1 104.0 99.9 98.6 101.5 1985 98.8 99.3 107.1 NA NA 98.5 101.8 99.0 104.9 96.2 101.3 99.6 97.9 101.5 1986 98.7 99.6 106.5 NA NA 98.6 104.2 99.2 104.0 98.6 100.8 99.7 97.5 101.3 1987 99.2 100.3 106.8 NA NA 99.4 101.8 99.8 103.4 100.4 100.3 97.2 98.7 102.0 1988 100.3 102.1 108.0 NA NA 101.1 101.8 100.1 103.2 104.0 101.1 98.0 98.5 102.5 1989 100.2 101.1 106.8 NA NA 100.6 100.6 99.9 102.0 103.7 100.5 98.6 98.2 102.4 1990 99.4 100.4 105.3 NA NA 101.8 99.4 99.4 99.9 101.2 100.5 98.4 99.3 101.7 1991 98.8 99.8 103.2 NA NA 100.0 99.7 99.6 99.2 100.1 100.2 98.9 99.2 100.0 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 101.3 101.4 97.7 NA NA 98.5 99.2 99.2 96.9 98.0 100.0 100.3 102.6 99.6 1994 102.4 102.0 97.7 NA NA 101.2 NA 99.0 97.0 100.7 100.0 100.5 105.7 100.3 1995 101.6 101.5 98.4 NA NA 100.1 NA 99.5 96.4 100.8 100.3 99.7 107.6 101.0 1996 101.6 101.7 99.2 NA NA 100.5 NA 99.7 95.0 100.0 100.2 99.3 108.0 101.3 1997 102.2 101.8 98.6 NA NA 100.7 NA 99.3 95.2 100.4 NA 99.0 108.2 101.4 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 22 - Table 7. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom* 1950 8.7 5.8 NA NA NA NA 2.5 1.6 3.4 0.8 3.1 2.2 1.9 1.6 1955 11.7 8.2 3.1 NA NA NA 3.4 2.9 5.0 1.2 4.6 3.4 3.0 2.3 1960 14.9 10.6 4.3 NA NA 5.6 4.6 4.3 8.1 1.6 6.4 4.7 4.1 3.1 1961 15.3 10.8 5.0 NA NA 5.9 5.2 4.8 9.1 1.7 7.3 5.2 4.5 3.3 1962 15.9 11.3 5.7 NA NA 6.3 5.6 5.3 10.3 2.0 7.8 5.7 5.0 3.5 1963 16.4 11.8 6.4 NA NA 7.0 6.1 5.7 11.0 2.4 8.6 6.1 5.6 3.7 1964 17.1 12.3 7.2 NA NA 7.9 6.6 6.2 11.9 2.6 10.0 6.5 6.1 3.9 1965 17.5 13.0 8.1 NA NA 8.8 7.4 6.8 13.1 2.8 11.2 7.2 6.7 4.3 1966 18.2 14.0 9.0 NA NA 9.7 8.4 7.2 14.2 2.9 12.6 7.8 7.3 4.6 1967 19.2 14.7 10.0 NA NA 10.6 9.4 7.7 15.0 3.2 13.9 8.7 8.1 4.8 1968 20.7 15.7 11.7 NA NA 11.3 10.3 8.7 16.2 3.5 15.5 9.6 8.8 5.1 1969 22.2 16.9 13.8 NA NA 12.4 11.6 9.3 17.7 3.8 17.6 10.6 9.6 5.6 1970 23.8 18.1 16.5 NA NA 14.1 13.3 10.5 20.8 4.6 20.3 11.8 10.8 6.4 1971 25.3 19.2 19.0 NA NA 16.2 15.2 11.7 23.3 5.3 23.3 13.5 12.1 7.3 1972 26.6 20.5 21.9 NA NA 18.7 16.9 13.0 25.7 6.0 26.7 15.1 13.5 8.5 1973 28.6 22.3 26.8 NA NA 21.7 20.5 14.9 29.1 7.0 31.8 17.0 15.2 9.6 1974 31.8 25.8 35.1 NA NA 26.4 24.8 17.7 33.1 9.2 38.0 19.9 17.8 11.6 1975 35.6 29.6 40.9 NA NA 32.0 29.6 21.6 36.4 11.6 43.4 23.8 21.9 15.4 1976 38.6 33.8 44.0 NA NA 36.2 33.0 24.7 39.3 14.4 48.4 27.5 25.6 17.9 1977 42.0 37.5 48.6 NA NA 40.5 36.5 28.1 43.0 17.1 52.8 30.9 28.0 20.2 1978 45.4 40.3 51.8 NA NA 43.7 40.2 31.6 46.2 19.7 57.2 34.1 31.2 23.5 1979 49.8 43.7 55.1 NA NA 47.5 45.0 35.9 49.7 23.8 61.4 35.8 33.6 28.0 1980 55.8 48.3 58.6 NA NA 52.7 49.6 41.3 53.8 27.9 64.7 39.0 37.4 33.7 1981 61.3 53.8 62.7 NA NA 58.5 54.6 47.9 57.2 33.8 67.6 43.3 41.3 39.2 1982 67.2 60.4 65.8 NA NA 61.0 59.5 56.9 60.4 39.8 71.7 48.2 44.3 43.1 1983 69.0 64.3 67.6 NA NA 64.7 63.6 62.7 63.3 46.6 74.9 52.9 48.8 46.3 1984 71.4 66.7 69.7 NA NA 70.1 67.2 68.1 66.3 53.5 77.8 57.9 53.0 49.9 1985 75.3 70.5 72.5 NA NA 74.5 71.7 73.7 70.1 60.1 81.9 63.4 58.4 54.7 1986 78.6 73.1 76.1 NA NA 77.5 73.2 76.8 73.0 62.6 85.1 69.1 63.1 59.4 1987 80.8 75.9 77.9 NA NA 79.3 80.1 79.7 76.5 66.1 87.8 78.5 67.3 65.9 1988 84.0 78.5 79.2 NA NA 81.0 82.9 82.7 79.5 68.7 87.7 83.3 71.7 70.3 1989 86.8 83.2 84.2 NA NA 85.2 87.7 87.2 83.3 75.5 88.5 87.2 79.4 75.1 1990 91.0 89.5 90.7 NA NA 89.9 92.7 91.8 89.4 84.0 90.8 92.3 87.6 83.4 1991 95.7 94.7 95.9 NA NA 95.4 95.9 96.3 95.0 93.1 95.2 97.5 95.4 92.9 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 102.9 99.8 104.6 NA NA 105.0 102.4 103.6 106.0 107.1 103.7 101.5 98.0 106.2 1994 105.6 100.4 106.7 NA NA 108.4 NA 106.2 111.8 106.6 108.2 104.4 101.1 108.2 1995 108.7 103.7 109.5 NA NA 111.6 NA 107.7 117.8 112.3 111.1 109.2 106.2 108.6 1996 112.1 106.0 110.5 NA NA 114.1 NA 109.4 123.7 119.4 114.5 114.4 113.4 110.9 1997 116.1 108.8 114.0 NA NA 116.5 NA 112.6 126.5 125.2 NA 119.6 118.3 115.2 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. * Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor costs to employers. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 23 - Table 8. Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom* 1950 8.7 6.4 NA NA NA NA 2.2 2.5 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.9 2.1 2.6 1955 11.7 10.0 1.1 NA NA NA 3.0 4.3 1.9 2.3 2.1 2.9 3.3 3.7 1960 14.9 13.2 1.5 NA NA 3.6 4.0 4.7 3.0 3.1 3.0 4.1 4.7 5.0 1961 15.3 12.9 1.8 NA NA 3.8 4.5 5.1 3.5 3.4 3.6 4.5 5.1 5.3 1962 15.9 12.7 2.0 NA NA 4.1 4.9 5.7 4.0 4.1 3.8 4.9 5.7 5.6 1963 16.4 13.2 2.3 NA NA 4.5 5.4 6.2 4.3 4.8 4.2 5.3 6.3 5.8 1964 17.1 13.7 2.5 NA NA 5.1 5.8 6.7 4.7 5.1 4.9 5.6 6.9 6.2 1965 17.5 14.6 2.8 NA NA 5.7 6.4 7.3 5.1 5.5 5.5 6.2 7.6 6.8 1966 18.2 15.7 3.1 NA NA 6.3 7.3 7.7 5.6 5.8 6.1 6.8 8.3 7.3 1967 19.2 16.5 3.5 NA NA 6.9 8.1 8.3 5.9 6.4 6.8 7.6 9.2 7.4 1968 20.7 17.6 4.1 NA NA 7.3 8.3 9.3 6.3 6.8 7.5 8.4 10.0 6.9 1969 22.2 19.0 4.9 NA NA 8.0 9.3 9.5 7.0 7.5 8.5 9.2 10.8 7.5 1970 23.8 20.9 5.8 NA NA 9.1 10.7 10.0 8.9 9.1 9.9 10.3 12.1 8.7 1971 25.3 22.9 6.9 NA NA 10.7 12.4 11.3 10.5 10.6 11.7 11.9 13.8 10.1 1972 26.6 25.0 9.2 NA NA 13.6 14.7 13.6 12.6 12.6 14.6 14.2 16.6 12.0 1973 28.6 26.9 12.5 NA NA 17.9 20.5 17.7 17.2 14.9 20.1 18.4 20.3 13.4 1974 31.8 31.9 15.3 NA NA 21.8 24.6 19.4 20.0 17.4 24.9 22.4 23.5 15.3 1975 35.6 35.2 17.5 NA NA 28.0 31.1 26.6 23.2 21.9 30.2 28.4 30.8 19.4 1976 38.6 41.4 18.8 NA NA 30.2 32.9 27.4 24.4 21.4 32.2 31.3 34.2 18.2 1977 42.0 42.6 23.0 NA NA 36.3 36.7 30.2 28.9 23.8 37.9 36.0 36.5 19.9 1978 45.4 42.7 31.5 NA NA 44.6 44.1 37.2 36.0 28.5 46.5 40.4 40.2 25.6 1979 49.8 45.1 32.0 NA NA 52.1 51.6 44.6 42.3 35.3 53.8 43.9 45.7 33.6 1980 55.8 49.9 32.9 NA NA 58.0 53.2 51.8 46.3 40.3 57.3 49.0 51.5 44.4 1981 61.3 54.3 36.1 NA NA 50.8 46.2 46.6 39.6 36.6 47.8 46.9 47.5 44.9 1982 67.2 59.2 33.5 NA NA 42.9 43.0 45.7 38.8 36.2 47.2 46.4 41.1 42.7 1983 69.0 63.1 36.1 NA NA 40.7 42.0 43.6 38.7 37.8 46.2 45.0 37.1 39.7 1984 71.4 62.3 37.2 NA NA 39.0 39.2 41.3 36.4 37.5 42.6 44.1 37.3 37.8 1985 75.3 62.4 38.5 NA NA 40.4 40.9 43.5 37.2 38.8 43.4 45.8 39.5 40.2 1986 78.6 63.6 57.3 NA NA 55.8 54.6 58.7 52.6 51.7 61.1 58.1 51.6 49.4 1987 80.8 69.2 68.3 NA NA 68.3 70.6 70.2 66.5 62.8 76.2 72.3 61.8 61.2 1988 84.0 77.1 78.4 NA NA 70.8 74.3 73.5 70.7 65.0 78.0 79.3 68.1 70.9 1989 86.8 84.9 77.3 NA NA 69.5 72.3 72.3 69.2 67.8 73.4 78.4 71.7 69.6 1990 91.0 92.7 79.3 NA NA 86.4 90.4 89.2 86.3 86.3 87.7 91.7 86.2 84.3 1991 95.7 99.8 90.3 NA NA 89.7 90.5 90.3 89.4 92.5 89.4 93.3 91.8 93.0 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 102.9 93.5 119.3 NA NA 97.6 95.3 96.8 100.1 83.9 98.1 88.8 73.3 90.3 1994 105.6 88.8 132.4 NA NA 104.3 NA 101.4 107.7 81.5 104.6 92.0 76.3 93.9 1995 108.7 91.3 147.7 NA NA 121.8 NA 114.3 128.5 84.9 121.8 107.1 86.6 97.1 1996 112.1 93.9 128.8 NA NA 118.4 NA 113.2 128.4 95.4 119.4 110.0 98.5 98.0 1997 116.1 94.9 119.4 NA NA 104.6 NA 102.1 113.9 90.6 NA 104.9 90.1 106.8 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. * Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor costs to employers. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 24 - Table 9. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 NA 20.6 NA NA NA NA 11.0 11.7 25.6 7.4 25.5 9.0 9.5 6.6 1955 NA 23.8 36.1 NA NA NA 13.8 16.3 25.5 7.6 29.7 11.8 13.7 8.8 1960 NA 26.0 30.9 NA NA 31.2 15.4 18.7 28.0 8.0 33.0 12.9 14.9 10.3 1961 NA 25.3 31.8 NA NA 32.7 16.3 19.4 29.9 8.2 35.7 13.6 15.6 11.0 1962 NA 24.4 34.6 NA NA 33.3 17.0 20.2 31.6 8.7 37.0 15.0 16.1 11.3 1963 NA 24.4 35.7 NA NA 35.5 17.9 20.9 32.3 10.1 39.4 15.2 16.8 11.3 1964 NA 24.4 35.4 NA NA 37.7 17.9 21.0 32.3 10.6 41.9 15.4 16.9 11.3 1965 NA 24.6 38.3 NA NA 39.8 18.9 21.3 33.4 10.2 44.2 16.0 17.3 12.0 1966 NA 26.0 38.5 NA NA 41.1 20.5 20.8 34.8 10.0 46.5 16.8 18.2 12.5 1967 NA 27.1 38.1 NA NA 42.5 21.4 21.1 34.6 10.5 48.2 18.1 18.6 12.3 1968 NA 27.2 39.6 NA NA 41.8 21.6 21.7 34.4 10.4 48.0 18.8 18.5 12.3 1969 NA 27.9 41.0 NA NA 41.9 23.4 21.7 35.1 11.0 49.8 19.0 18.7 13.1 1970 NA 30.5 43.3 9.9 22.3 43.3 25.2 23.0 40.0 12.6 52.7 20.4 20.5 14.8 1971 NA 30.6 47.3 10.5 23.4 46.7 27.1 24.4 43.1 14.3 56.9 22.5 22.0 16.1 1972 NA 31.3 49.6 11.7 23.7 48.4 27.8 25.7 44.9 14.8 60.5 23.7 23.4 17.7 1973 NA 32.0 55.7 13.8 27.5 50.8 30.6 27.6 47.7 16.0 65.1 25.1 24.4 18.8 1974 NA 36.5 71.1 16.9 41.5 58.6 35.9 32.0 52.4 19.7 72.5 28.2 27.5 22.2 1975 NA 43.5 80.6 19.8 42.1 68.3 38.9 37.8 55.3 25.7 84.1 34.2 33.3 30.1 1976 NA 46.3 81.9 24.7 43.6 70.3 41.8 40.8 55.6 28.1 84.7 38.3 38.3 33.5 1977 59.6 48.6 86.8 28.7 45.4 74.8 45.4 43.8 59.0 32.6 85.5 43.2 42.6 37.5 1978 63.8 51.3 89.1 34.1 45.8 76.1 49.3 47.2 61.4 35.2 86.7 46.8 46.2 43.1 1979 69.1 55.9 87.5 41.5 52.0 78.5 52.5 51.1 63.1 39.0 88.8 45.8 46.2 50.9 1980 77.6 64.2 91.7 52.7 60.1 81.8 55.0 58.6 69.7 43.7 92.7 50.8 50.6 62.1 1981 81.3 69.9 95.1 60.7 69.8 85.0 59.5 66.0 72.6 51.6 94.8 56.6 56.1 68.5 1982 86.5 80.3 95.8 64.0 74.5 83.7 64.6 73.2 77.0 59.8 98.8 60.5 57.8 71.5 1983 84.9 80.7 97.2 68.0 73.0 80.3 65.8 79.0 76.7 66.4 95.6 64.2 59.7 71.2 1984 84.4 77.1 96.8 73.2 76.2 82.9 69.9 84.4 77.7 69.4 90.3 66.3 61.9 72.9 1985 85.8 78.6 93.8 70.5 79.3 86.3 74.2 88.0 79.0 73.8 91.3 70.2 67.1 76.9 1986 89.1 82.0 99.0 69.9 82.3 88.6 80.4 90.2 81.7 75.8 93.5 77.7 71.3 80.3 1987 85.7 83.3 96.0 74.4 82.1 89.5 88.4 92.0 86.7 77.8 95.8 84.1 74.7 84.5 1988 85.9 86.3 93.4 83.3 84.2 88.3 88.2 89.3 86.9 79.4 93.5 90.4 79.0 85.0 1989 89.5 90.0 94.0 88.9 87.9 88.1 88.1 89.5 88.3 84.4 91.1 92.2 84.7 87.2 1990 93.1 94.0 95.0 94.5 94.3 92.7 93.6 92.6 90.4 90.5 92.1 95.6 92.3 93.5 1991 97.5 99.6 96.5 99.0 95.6 96.3 96.3 97.6 93.3 97.7 95.6 100.0 100.4 99.0 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 100.8 96.6 104.1 98.2 100.9 100.9 97.0 101.8 105.3 102.5 101.8 100.9 91.8 100.5 1994 97.7 95.0 104.9 97.5 102.0 98.6 99.7 96.2 103.6 99.2 94.8 102.9 87.0 99.1 1995 94.5 95.6 100.1 97.2 102.1 102.0 101.9 94.2 105.2 98.6 92.9 107.1 86.8 101.0 1996 93.3 99.4 98.8 99.8 101.8 103.1 101.2 92.8 106.0 104.4 93.4 111.5 90.4 104.4 1997 92.4 99.3 96.0 95.1 100.8 99.7 102.2 89.4 102.4 106.6 NA 115.9 88.5 107.5 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 25 - Table 10. Unit labor costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 NA 22.8 NA NA NA NA 9.6 17.7 9.5 14.6 11.8 7.8 10.7 10.5 1955 NA 29.2 12.7 NA NA NA 12.0 24.6 9.5 15.0 13.7 10.2 15.5 13.8 1960 NA 32.4 10.9 NA NA 20.1 13.5 20.2 10.5 15.9 15.4 11.3 16.8 16.4 1961 NA 30.2 11.2 NA NA 21.1 14.3 21.0 11.6 16.2 17.3 11.9 17.6 17.5 1962 NA 27.5 12.1 NA NA 21.5 14.9 21.8 12.4 17.3 18.1 13.0 18.2 18.0 1963 NA 27.4 12.5 NA NA 22.9 15.7 22.5 12.7 19.9 19.2 13.2 18.9 17.8 1964 NA 27.3 12.4 NA NA 24.4 15.6 22.7 12.7 20.9 20.4 13.3 19.1 17.8 1965 NA 27.6 13.4 NA NA 25.8 16.5 23.0 13.1 20.1 21.6 13.9 19.6 18.9 1966 NA 29.1 13.5 NA NA 26.5 17.9 22.5 13.6 19.7 22.6 14.6 20.5 19.8 1967 NA 30.3 13.3 NA NA 27.5 18.5 22.7 13.6 20.7 23.5 15.7 21.0 19.2 1968 NA 30.5 13.9 NA NA 26.9 17.4 23.2 13.4 20.5 23.3 16.4 20.9 16.7 1969 NA 31.3 14.5 NA NA 26.9 18.8 22.1 14.0 21.6 24.2 16.5 21.0 17.8 1970 NA 35.3 15.3 25.0 14.0 28.0 20.3 22.0 17.1 24.7 25.6 17.8 23.0 20.1 1971 NA 36.6 17.3 23.7 14.7 31.0 22.1 23.4 19.3 28.5 28.7 19.9 25.1 22.3 1972 NA 38.1 20.8 23.2 14.9 35.4 24.1 27.0 22.0 31.2 33.1 22.3 28.7 25.0 1973 NA 38.7 26.1 27.1 18.1 42.1 30.7 32.9 28.1 34.0 41.2 27.2 32.7 26.0 1974 NA 45.1 30.9 32.6 27.5 48.5 35.6 35.1 31.7 37.3 47.5 31.7 36.2 29.4 1975 NA 51.7 34.5 32.0 27.9 59.9 40.9 46.7 35.2 48.6 58.6 40.7 46.8 37.9 1976 NA 56.7 35.0 39.8 28.9 58.6 41.8 45.3 34.5 41.7 56.4 43.6 51.3 34.2 1977 59.6 55.3 41.1 46.3 30.1 67.1 45.7 47.2 39.7 45.5 61.3 50.4 55.5 37.0 1978 63.8 54.4 54.2 55.0 31.1 77.8 54.1 55.6 47.8 51.1 70.6 55.5 59.5 46.8 1979 69.1 57.6 50.9 67.0 36.3 86.1 60.3 63.6 53.8 57.8 77.9 56.2 62.8 61.1 1980 77.6 66.4 51.5 67.7 42.0 90.0 58.9 73.5 59.9 62.9 82.1 63.9 69.6 81.7 1981 81.3 70.4 54.6 69.5 47.6 73.8 50.4 64.2 50.3 55.9 67.0 61.3 64.6 78.5 1982 86.5 78.6 48.8 68.3 47.9 58.8 46.7 58.9 49.5 54.4 65.0 58.3 53.6 70.8 1983 84.9 79.1 51.8 68.4 45.9 50.5 43.4 54.9 46.9 53.8 58.9 54.7 45.3 61.1 1984 84.4 71.9 51.7 70.9 48.4 46.1 40.8 51.2 42.6 48.7 49.5 50.5 43.6 55.2 1985 85.8 69.5 49.9 63.3 50.1 46.8 42.3 51.9 41.9 47.6 48.4 50.8 45.4 56.5 1986 89.1 71.3 74.5 61.9 54.7 63.7 60.0 69.0 58.8 62.6 67.1 65.3 58.3 66.7 1987 85.7 75.9 84.2 70.6 65.1 77.0 77.9 81.0 75.3 73.9 83.1 77.5 68.5 78.4 1988 85.9 84.8 92.4 88.9 74.1 77.1 79.0 79.3 77.3 75.1 83.1 86.1 75.0 85.8 1989 89.5 91.9 86.3 103.3 83.8 71.9 72.6 74.3 73.4 75.8 75.5 82.9 76.4 80.8 1990 93.1 97.3 83.1 104.2 88.2 89.2 91.3 90.0 87.3 93.0 88.9 95.0 90.8 94.5 1991 97.5 105.0 90.9 105.4 89.9 90.6 90.8 91.5 87.7 97.0 89.8 95.7 96.6 99.1 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 1993 100.8 90.5 118.8 95.5 96.1 93.8 90.3 95.1 99.4 80.3 96.3 88.3 68.6 85.5 1994 97.7 84.0 130.1 94.7 97.0 94.8 94.7 91.8 99.8 75.8 91.6 90.7 65.7 86.0 1995 94.5 84.2 135.1 98.4 96.9 111.3 109.8 100.0 114.7 74.6 101.8 105.0 70.8 90.2 1996 93.3 88.1 115.1 96.9 93.3 107.0 105.3 96.1 110.0 83.4 97.4 107.3 78.5 92.3 1997 92.4 86.6 100.5 78.1 88.1 89.5 93.4 81.1 92.2 77.1 NA 101.6 67.5 99.6 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 26 - Table 11. Exchange rates, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Value of foreign currency relative to U.S. dollar) (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 100.0 110.5 35.2 NA NA NA 87.5 151.3 37.2 197.3 46.2 87.1 112.6 158.6 1955 100.0 122.5 35.2 NA NA NA 87.4 151.2 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 39.8 196.4 48.5 87.0 112.7 135.3 1970 100.0 115.8 35.4 251.4 62.9 64.7 80.5 95.7 42.8 196.5 48.6 86.9 112.3 135.6 1971 100.0 119.7 36.5 224.9 62.9 66.2 81.6 96.1 44.9 199.3 50.4 88.3 114.1 138.4 1972 100.0 122.0 41.8 198.7 62.9 73.0 86.8 104.9 49.0 211.1 54.8 94.3 122.5 141.6 1973 100.0 120.8 46.8 196.0 65.8 82.8 100.2 119.3 59.0 211.8 63.3 108.2 133.8 138.8 1974 100.0 123.6 43.5 193.0 66.2 82.7 99.3 109.6 60.5 189.4 65.5 112.6 131.4 132.5 1975 100.0 118.8 42.7 161.3 66.2 87.6 105.3 123.6 63.6 188.9 69.7 119.2 140.6 125.8 1976 100.0 122.6 42.8 161.3 66.2 83.3 99.9 110.9 62.1 148.4 66.6 113.9 133.7 102.2 1977 100.0 113.7 47.3 161.3 66.2 89.7 100.6 107.7 67.3 139.6 71.7 116.8 130.4 98.8 1978 100.0 106.0 60.8 161.3 67.9 102.3 109.6 117.6 77.9 145.2 81.4 118.6 129.0 108.6 1979 100.0 103.2 58.1 161.3 69.8 109.6 114.8 124.4 85.2 148.3 87.7 122.7 135.9 120.2 1980 100.0 103.4 56.2 128.5 69.8 110.1 107.3 125.4 86.0 144.1 88.6 125.9 137.8 131.7 1981 100.0 100.8 57.5 114.6 68.3 86.8 84.6 97.3 69.3 108.2 70.7 108.2 115.0 114.6 1982 100.0 97.9 50.9 106.8 64.3 70.2 72.3 80.5 64.3 91.0 65.8 96.2 92.7 99.0 1983 100.0 98.1 53.4 100.6 62.8 62.9 66.0 69.5 61.2 81.1 61.6 85.1 75.9 85.8 1984 100.0 93.3 53.4 96.9 63.5 55.7 58.3 60.6 54.9 70.2 54.8 76.2 70.4 75.7 1985 100.0 88.5 53.2 89.7 63.1 54.2 57.0 58.9 53.1 64.6 53.0 72.3 67.7 73.5 1986 100.0 87.0 75.3 88.6 66.5 72.0 74.6 76.4 72.0 82.6 71.8 84.0 81.7 83.1 1987 100.0 91.1 87.7 94.9 79.3 86.1 88.2 88.0 86.9 95.0 86.8 92.2 91.8 92.8 1988 100.0 98.2 98.9 106.7 88.0 87.4 89.6 88.8 88.9 94.6 88.9 95.2 94.9 100.8 1989 100.0 102.1 91.8 116.3 95.3 81.6 82.5 83.0 83.0 89.8 82.9 89.9 90.2 92.7 1990 100.0 103.6 87.4 110.3 93.5 96.2 97.5 97.2 96.6 102.8 96.6 99.4 98.4 101.0 1991 100.0 105.5 94.2 106.4 94.0 94.0 94.3 93.7 94.0 99.3 93.9 95.7 96.3 100.1 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 100.0 93.7 114.1 97.3 95.2 93.0 93.1 93.4 94.4 78.3 94.6 87.5 74.7 85.0 1994 100.0 88.4 124.1 97.2 95.1 96.2 95.0 95.4 96.3 76.5 96.7 88.1 75.5 86.7 1995 100.0 88.1 134.9 101.2 95.0 109.1 107.8 106.2 109.1 75.6 109.6 98.1 81.6 89.4 1996 100.0 88.6 116.5 97.0 91.6 103.8 104.1 103.5 103.8 79.9 104.3 96.2 86.8 88.4 1997 100.0 87.3 104.7 82.1 87.4 89.8 91.3 90.7 90.0 72.3 90.1 87.7 76.2 92.7 NA: Not Available Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 27 - Table 12. Average annual compensation in manufacturing, national currency basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France* Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden* Kingdom* 1950 8.8 6.2 NA NA NA NA 3.5 2.0 4.9 0.9 4.1 2.9 2.4 1.9 1955 11.9 8.5 3.7 NA NA NA 4.7 3.4 7.4 1.3 6.0 4.4 3.8 2.8 1960 14.8 10.9 5.3 NA NA 7.0 6.0 5.2 10.7 1.8 8.5 6.0 5.0 3.6 1961 15.3 11.1 6.1 NA NA 7.4 6.6 5.8 11.8 2.0 9.3 6.4 5.5 3.8 1962 16.0 11.6 6.8 NA NA 8.0 7.2 6.3 13.1 2.2 9.8 7.0 6.1 4.0 1963 16.6 12.2 7.6 NA NA 8.8 7.8 6.9 13.7 2.7 10.8 7.5 6.6 4.2 1964 17.4 12.7 8.5 NA NA 9.9 8.5 7.5 14.9 2.8 12.4 8.0 7.1 4.5 1965 17.9 13.5 9.4 NA NA 10.8 9.4 8.0 16.3 2.9 13.9 8.7 7.8 4.8 1966 18.8 14.4 10.4 NA NA 11.9 10.4 8.5 17.4 3.2 15.4 9.5 8.6 5.1 1967 19.5 15.1 11.7 NA NA 12.8 11.6 9.1 17.9 3.5 17.0 10.5 9.3 5.3 1968 20.9 16.1 13.5 NA NA 13.7 12.5 10.0 19.5 3.8 18.6 11.3 9.9 5.7 1969 22.3 17.3 15.8 NA NA 14.8 13.8 10.9 21.3 4.1 20.8 12.2 10.6 6.2 1970 23.4 18.4 18.6 NA NA 16.4 15.3 12.1 24.9 4.9 23.7 13.4 11.9 7.0 1971 24.9 19.4 21.2 NA NA 18.5 17.5 13.5 27.3 5.5 26.8 15.2 13.3 7.8 1972 26.6 20.8 24.3 NA NA 20.9 19.0 14.7 29.9 6.1 30.3 16.7 14.5 9.0 1973 28.6 22.4 29.4 NA NA 23.7 21.8 16.6 33.5 7.3 35.4 18.7 15.9 10.4 1974 31.2 25.9 37.0 NA NA 28.1 26.9 19.5 37.4 9.2 41.0 21.7 18.5 12.0 1975 34.5 29.3 42.1 NA NA 32.2 31.1 23.1 40.1 11.4 46.0 25.8 22.3 16.0 1976 37.8 33.5 46.7 NA NA 37.2 34.8 26.6 44.4 14.2 51.2 29.1 25.8 18.7 1977 41.2 37.1 51.6 NA NA 41.3 38.2 29.9 47.8 16.7 55.6 32.1 27.9 21.2 1978 44.6 40.1 55.2 NA NA 44.5 41.6 33.4 50.8 19.2 59.6 34.6 30.3 24.7 1979 48.6 43.4 59.1 NA NA 48.5 46.5 37.8 54.3 23.1 63.3 35.8 32.2 29.2 1980 53.8 47.5 62.9 NA NA 52.9 51.6 43.6 58.2 27.2 67.1 39.1 35.4 34.1 1981 59.1 53.0 66.8 NA NA 57.4 56.1 49.8 61.1 32.9 70.5 43.6 39.3 39.0 1982 63.6 59.0 69.9 NA NA 61.1 62.0 56.8 64.4 38.7 75.6 48.1 42.4 43.3 1983 67.2 63.8 71.9 NA NA 63.2 67.2 62.4 67.4 45.3 79.0 53.0 47.3 46.6 1984 70.5 66.1 74.8 NA NA 68.0 70.8 67.8 70.6 51.9 80.9 57.9 52.3 50.7 1985 74.3 70.0 77.6 NA NA 73.4 73.0 73.0 73.5 57.8 83.0 63.1 57.2 55.5 1986 77.6 72.9 81.1 NA NA 76.4 76.3 76.2 76.0 61.7 85.8 68.9 61.5 60.2 1987 80.2 76.2 83.3 NA NA 78.9 81.5 79.5 79.2 66.4 88.1 76.3 66.4 67.3 1988 84.2 80.2 85.6 NA NA 81.8 84.4 82.8 82.0 71.4 88.6 81.7 70.6 72.0 1989 86.9 84.1 89.9 NA NA 85.6 88.2 87.1 85.0 78.3 89.0 86.0 77.9 76.9 1990 90.4 89.9 95.5 NA NA 91.4 92.1 91.2 89.3 85.0 91.2 90.9 87.0 84.8 1991 94.6 94.5 98.9 NA NA 95.5 95.6 95.9 94.3 93.2 95.4 96.4 94.6 92.9 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 104.3 101.2 102.1 NA NA 103.4 101.5 102.8 102.8 105.0 103.7 101.8 100.5 105.8 1994 108.1 102.4 104.3 NA NA 109.7 105.1 105.2 108.5 107.3 108.2 105.0 106.8 108.5 1995 110.4 105.2 107.7 NA NA 111.7 109.4 107.1 113.6 113.3 111.5 108.8 114.3 109.7 1996 113.9 107.8 109.7 NA NA 114.7 113.1 109.1 117.6 119.5 114.7 113.6 122.5 112.3 1997 118.6 110.7 112.4 NA NA 117.3 117.6 111.8 120.5 125.8 NA 118.4 127.9 116.8 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. * Compensation adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor costs to employers. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 28 - Table 13. Real hourly compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 50.6 38.7 NA NA NA NA 28.6 20.1 11.8 18.2 17.2 26.3 25.2 27.0 1955 61.2 48.7 18.2 NA NA NA 31.9 27.1 15.9 21.2 21.3 29.4 30.5 29.6 1960 70.6 57.2 23.2 NA NA 25.2 38.7 30.5 23.6 24.3 26.6 36.3 35.3 34.6 1961 72.0 58.1 25.6 NA NA 26.4 41.7 32.7 25.8 26.2 30.0 38.7 37.9 35.8 1962 74.0 59.7 27.4 NA NA 28.0 42.5 34.5 28.4 29.3 31.3 40.3 40.3 36.1 1963 75.2 61.2 28.4 NA NA 30.3 43.9 35.9 29.4 32.4 33.3 42.0 43.3 37.0 1964 77.3 62.7 30.8 NA NA 32.8 45.7 37.7 31.1 32.6 36.5 42.5 45.7 38.2 1965 77.7 64.9 32.2 NA NA 35.0 47.7 39.9 33.1 33.4 39.3 45.0 48.0 39.9 1966 79.0 67.1 33.8 NA NA 37.1 50.8 41.1 34.7 34.9 41.7 47.6 49.4 41.5 1967 80.8 68.2 36.4 NA NA 39.4 53.0 43.1 36.1 37.7 44.6 50.9 52.5 42.6 1968 83.4 69.9 40.2 NA NA 41.1 54.0 47.0 38.3 39.7 47.9 54.2 56.0 43.7 1969 85.0 72.2 45.3 NA NA 43.3 58.7 48.2 41.1 42.4 50.6 58.0 58.8 45.0 1970 86.1 74.6 50.0 NA NA 47.5 62.9 51.8 46.8 49.1 56.0 58.3 61.7 48.6 1971 87.5 77.0 54.4 NA NA 52.1 68.3 54.9 49.9 53.9 59.6 62.8 64.0 50.5 1972 89.2 78.6 59.7 NA NA 57.0 71.0 57.0 52.3 57.2 63.3 65.3 67.4 54.4 1973 90.5 79.4 65.4 NA NA 61.8 78.8 60.8 55.4 60.9 69.8 68.5 69.7 56.7 1974 90.5 83.0 69.5 NA NA 66.8 82.7 63.6 59.0 66.7 76.2 73.4 74.7 58.8 1975 93.0 85.9 72.5 NA NA 71.8 90.0 69.3 61.2 71.8 79.0 78.6 83.5 63.1 1976 95.2 91.2 71.4 NA NA 74.6 92.1 72.5 63.3 76.5 81.0 83.2 88.3 62.8 1977 97.2 93.7 72.8 NA NA 77.8 91.8 75.2 66.8 75.9 82.8 85.6 86.0 61.1 1978 97.6 92.3 74.5 NA NA 80.3 91.9 77.6 70.2 77.8 86.1 87.4 88.8 65.5 1979 96.2 91.9 76.4 NA NA 83.7 93.7 79.5 72.5 81.4 88.8 87.6 89.8 68.5 1980 94.9 92.1 75.4 NA NA 87.0 92.0 80.6 74.7 78.8 87.8 86.0 87.5 70.2 1981 94.6 91.3 77.0 NA NA 89.8 90.7 82.4 74.8 80.3 86.0 84.1 86.2 73.2 1982 97.7 92.5 78.6 NA NA 86.1 89.7 87.5 74.9 81.3 86.1 84.1 85.0 73.7 1983 97.2 93.1 79.2 NA NA 84.8 89.7 88.1 76.1 82.8 87.5 85.1 84.3 75.6 1984 96.4 92.5 79.8 NA NA 86.4 89.2 89.0 77.8 85.9 87.9 87.7 85.0 77.6 1985 98.1 94.0 81.4 NA NA 87.5 90.9 90.9 80.7 88.9 90.6 90.8 87.2 80.1 1986 100.6 93.7 85.0 NA NA 89.9 89.5 92.2 84.2 87.2 93.9 92.4 90.3 84.1 1987 99.8 93.2 86.9 NA NA 90.6 94.1 92.7 88.1 88.1 97.4 96.2 92.3 89.7 1988 99.6 92.6 87.8 NA NA 91.4 93.2 93.9 90.6 87.2 96.6 96.0 94.0 91.0 1989 98.2 93.4 91.1 NA NA 93.3 94.1 95.4 92.2 89.9 96.3 96.1 98.1 90.3 1990 97.6 95.9 95.3 NA NA 95.1 96.9 97.3 96.3 94.3 96.5 97.7 97.4 91.6 1991 98.6 96.1 97.6 NA NA 97.8 98.0 98.9 98.9 98.2 98.1 99.8 97.2 96.4 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 100.0 98.0 103.2 NA NA 102.1 101.1 101.6 102.2 102.8 101.1 99.2 95.3 104.5 1994 100.0 98.4 104.7 NA NA 103.1 NA 102.4 104.9 98.4 102.7 100.7 96.2 104.0 1995 100.1 99.5 107.4 NA NA 104.6 NA 102.1 108.6 98.4 103.6 102.7 96.8 100.9 1996 100.3 100.1 108.4 NA NA 104.7 NA 101.6 112.6 100.9 104.6 106.3 102.7 100.6 1997 101.5 101.1 109.8 NA NA 105.3 NA 103.4 113.0 103.8 NA 108.3 105.8 101.3 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. - 29 - Table 14. Real average annual compensation in manufacturing, CPI basis, 14 countries or areas, 1950-1997 (Indexes: 1992=100) United Nether- United Year States Canada Japan Korea Taiwan Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy lands Norway Sweden Kingdom 1950 51.4 41.6 NA NA NA NA 40.2 24.5 17.2 20.1 22.4 34.4 32.8 31.8 1955 62.2 50.4 21.6 NA NA NA 44.0 32.7 23.3 24.0 27.9 38.6 39.3 35.2 1960 70.3 58.7 28.6 NA NA 31.7 50.7 36.8 31.1 27.8 35.1 45.8 43.1 40.5 1961 71.8 59.4 31.1 NA NA 33.2 53.1 39.5 33.5 29.6 37.9 48.0 45.8 41.3 1962 74.5 61.5 32.6 NA NA 35.2 54.5 41.6 35.9 32.1 39.3 49.9 48.4 41.2 1963 76.0 63.3 33.6 NA NA 38.1 55.4 43.2 36.6 35.6 41.7 51.7 51.5 42.2 1964 78.6 65.1 36.2 NA NA 41.1 58.3 45.1 38.8 35.8 45.2 52.6 53.7 43.9 1965 79.9 67.3 37.2 NA NA 43.1 60.6 47.3 41.0 35.6 48.6 54.5 56.0 45.2 1966 81.5 69.2 39.2 NA NA 45.4 63.4 49.0 42.5 37.5 51.2 57.8 57.5 46.2 1967 81.8 70.3 42.3 NA NA 47.6 65.4 50.8 43.0 41.1 54.6 61.2 60.2 47.0 1968 84.4 71.9 46.6 NA NA 49.6 65.1 53.8 46.1 43.3 57.6 63.6 62.8 48.6 1969 85.3 74.0 51.8 NA NA 51.8 69.9 56.5 49.5 45.9 59.9 66.5 64.8 50.1 1970 84.6 76.0 56.6 NA NA 55.2 72.5 59.9 56.1 52.2 65.2 66.3 67.9 53.3 1971 86.2 78.1 60.6 NA NA 59.7 78.5 63.0 58.5 55.7 68.7 70.8 70.2 54.1 1972 89.4 79.9 66.1 NA NA 63.9 79.8 64.8 60.8 58.7 72.0 72.5 72.0 57.7 1973 90.5 80.0 71.9 NA NA 67.6 83.9 68.0 63.9 63.3 77.8 75.6 73.1 61.0 1974 88.8 83.1 73.2 NA NA 71.2 89.8 70.2 66.7 66.9 82.2 80.0 77.5 61.1 1975 89.9 85.0 74.7 NA NA 72.4 94.6 74.3 67.4 70.8 83.7 85.3 85.0 65.4 1976 93.2 90.3 75.7 NA NA 76.6 97.3 77.9 71.6 75.4 85.7 87.9 88.8 65.7 1977 95.5 92.7 77.3 NA NA 79.4 96.0 80.1 74.4 74.4 87.2 89.0 85.9 64.3 1978 95.9 91.9 79.4 NA NA 81.8 95.0 82.0 77.1 76.1 89.8 88.8 86.3 68.6 1979 93.9 91.3 82.0 NA NA 85.3 96.8 83.8 79.4 79.0 91.5 87.5 86.0 71.5 1980 91.6 90.6 80.9 NA NA 87.4 95.7 85.0 80.8 76.7 91.0 86.3 83.0 70.9 1981 91.2 89.8 82.0 NA NA 88.0 93.2 85.8 79.8 78.1 89.6 84.6 82.1 72.8 1982 92.5 90.4 83.5 NA NA 86.3 93.5 87.3 79.8 79.0 90.6 83.8 81.3 74.0 1983 94.6 92.3 84.3 NA NA 82.8 94.7 87.6 81.0 80.4 92.3 85.3 81.7 76.2 1984 95.2 91.7 85.7 NA NA 83.8 93.9 88.6 82.8 83.4 91.4 87.7 83.9 78.7 1985 96.9 93.4 87.2 NA NA 86.2 92.5 89.9 84.6 85.5 91.7 90.4 85.3 81.3 1986 99.3 93.3 90.5 NA NA 88.7 93.3 91.4 87.6 86.1 94.7 92.1 88.0 85.2 1987 99.1 93.5 92.8 NA NA 90.1 95.8 92.5 91.1 88.5 97.7 93.5 91.0 91.4 1988 99.9 94.6 94.8 NA NA 92.4 94.9 94.0 93.4 90.6 97.6 94.1 92.6 93.3 1989 98.3 94.4 97.4 NA NA 93.8 94.6 95.3 94.1 93.2 96.8 94.7 96.3 92.4 1990 97.1 96.3 100.3 NA NA 96.8 96.3 96.7 96.2 95.4 96.9 96.2 96.7 93.2 1991 97.4 95.9 100.6 NA NA 97.8 97.6 98.5 98.1 98.3 98.3 98.7 96.4 96.4 1992 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA NA 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1993 101.3 99.4 100.8 NA NA 100.6 100.3 100.7 99.1 100.8 101.1 99.5 97.8 104.1 1994 102.4 100.4 102.3 NA NA 104.3 101.7 101.4 101.7 99.1 102.7 101.2 101.7 104.3 1995 101.6 101.0 105.7 NA NA 104.7 103.7 101.5 104.8 99.2 103.9 102.4 104.1 101.9 1996 101.8 101.8 107.5 NA NA 105.3 105.1 101.4 107.0 100.9 104.8 105.6 111.0 101.9 1997 103.7 102.9 108.2 NA NA 106.0 108.5 102.6 107.6 104.3 NA 107.3 114.4 102.7 NA: Not Available Note: The data relate to employees (wage and salary earners) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and to all employed persons (employees and self-employed workers) in the other countries. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998. TECHNICAL NOTES The Bureau of Labor Statistics constructs trend indexes of manufacturing labor productivity (output per hour), hourly compensation costs, and unit labor costs from three basic aggregate measures-output, total labor hours, and total compensation. The hours and compensation measures refer to all employed persons, including self- employed persons and unpaid family workers, in the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden and to all employees (wage and salary earners) in the other economies. For all of the countries, the term "hours" refers to hours worked. In general, the measures relate to total manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). However, the measures for France and Italy (beginning in 1970) refer to mining and manufacturing less energy- related products, and the measures for Denmark include mining and exclude manufacturing handicrafts from 1960 to 1966. Output. For most countries, the output measures are value added in manufacturing from the national accounts. However, output for Japan prior to 1970 and for the Netherlands prior to 1960 are indexes of industrial production. The national accounts measures for the United Kingdom are essentially identical to their indexes of industrial production. While methods of deriving national accounts measures differ from country to country, BLS has reviewed these methods and determined that the series are sufficiently comparable for measuring comparative trends in productivity and unit labor costs. In this release, the 1977-97 manufacturing output data for the United States are the gross product originating (value added) measures prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Comparable manufacturing output data currently are not available prior to 1977. U. S. gross product originating is a chain-type annual-weighted series.(1) The Japanese value-added series is based upon one set of fixed price weights for the years 1970 through 1997. Output series for most other foreign economies also employ fixed price weights, but the weights are updated periodically (for example, every 5 or 10 years). To preserve the comparability of the U.S. measures with those of the other economies covered, BLS uses gross product originating in manufacturing for the United States for these comparative measures. The gross product originating series differs from the manufacturing output series that BLS publishes in its news releases on quarterly measures of U.S. productivity and costs. The quarterly measures are on a "sectoral output" basis rather than a value-added basis. Sectoral output is gross output less intra-sector transactions. Labor Input. The total hours measures are developed from statistics of manufacturing employment and average hours. The series used for France (from 1970 forward), Norway, and Sweden are official series published with the national accounts. Where official total hours series are not available, the measures are developed by BLS using employment figures published with the national accounts, or other comprehensive employment series, and estimates of annual hours worked. For Germany, BLS uses estimates of average hours worked, developed by a research institute connected to the Ministry of Labor for use with the national accounts employment figures. For the other countries, BLS constructs its own estimates of average hours. - 14 - Denmark has not published estimates of average hours for 1994-1997 and, therefore, the BLS measure of labor input for Denmark ends in 1993. Adequate employment and average hours data are not available for Korea or Taiwan; therefore BLS does not calculate labor input for these economies. Compensation (labor cost). The compensation measures are from the national accounts except those for Belgium, which are developed by BLS using statistics on employment, average hours, and hourly compensation. Compensation includes employer expenditures for legally required insurance programs and contractual and private benefit plans, in addition to all payments made in cash or in-kind directly to employees. For France and Sweden, compensation is increased to account for other significant taxes on payroll or employment. For the United Kingdom, compensation is reduced between 1967 and 1991 to account for subsidies. Self-employed workers are included in the all-employed-persons measures by assuming that their hourly compensation is equal to the average for wage and salary employees. Current Indicators. The measures for recent years may be based on current indicators of output (such as industrial production indexes), employment, average hours, and hourly compensation until national accounts and other statistics, normally used for the long-term measures, become available. Trade-Weighted Measures. The trade weights for Canada, Japan, and the European countries were obtained by rescaling a series of weights, developed by the International Monetary Fund, based on average trade flows over the 1989-91 period. These weights are based on aggregate trade data for total manufacturing and take account of both bilateral trade and the relative importance of "third country" markets. The 1989-91 weights do not include Korea and Taiwan. BLS developed weights for Korea and Taiwan by using data from an earlier study from the International Monetary Fund and other sources. The following weights were used for the entire period for which trade-weighted unit labor cost measures are produced: Country Weight Country Weight Canada 24.46 Italy 4.44 Japan 29.54 Norway 0.46 Belgium 2.06 Sweden 1.83 Denmark 0.46 United Kingdom 8.68 France 5.70 Korea 5.55 Germany 11.22 Taiwan 5.60 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. - 15 - Market exchange rates are not suitable as a basis for comparing output levels. What are needed are purchasing power parities, which are the number of foreign currency units required to buy goods and services equivalent to what can be bought with one unit of U.S. currency. Purchasing power parities are available for total gross domestic product (GDP) from the Organisation 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 for total GDP are not suitable for each component industry, such as manufacturing. Some analysts have constructed "proxy purchasing power parities" for manufacturing, using selected expenditure items from the GDP purchasing power parities. However, the prices used in this method have a number of shortcomings because they are based on consumer, business, and government final expenditures. The data reflect sales to final users, rather than the output of specific industries, and thus prices include indirect taxes, distribution margins, and transportation costs. Further, the purchasing power parities exclude items which, although they are outputs of the manufacturing sector (e.g., steel, paper, cement, etc.), are only intermediate inputs with respect to final sales. They also do not reflect an industry's output because they include imports and exclude exports. A different approach has been used by researchers at the International Comparisons of Output and Productivity project at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. They develop unit value ratios for matched products, based on censuses of manufactures data in the various countries. Unit values are obtained by dividing producers' sales values by quantities shipped. This procedure also has shortcomings, primarily because only a limited portion of manufactured products can be matched and the matched products may not be adequately representative of total manufacturing. For many products, values are reported but not quantities; for some products, there is no counterpart in the other country; and other products cannot be matched because they represent a different mix of product varieties or because of large differences in qualities.(2) _______________________ (1) For more information on the U. S. measure, see Robert E. Yuskavage, "Improved Estimates of Gross Product by Industry, 1959-94," Survey of Current Business, August 1996, pp. 133-55. (2) For an article based on this approach, see Bart van Ark, "Manufacturing prices, productivity, and labor costs in five economies," Monthly Labor Review, July 1995, pp. 56-72.