News Release

ILAB News Release: [07/22/2003]
Contact Name: Bob Zachariasiewicz
Phone Number: (202) 693-4686

U.S. Labor Department Publishes International Labor Comparisons on U.S., Europe and Asia

WASHINGTON—The Labor Department has issued A Chartbook of International Labor Comparisons: United States, Europe, and Asia. The book, a collaborative effort the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, is the department’s first international chartbook to compare select Asian-Pacific countries with both the U.S. and Europe.

The chartbook provides comparative information that can be used to assess U.S. economic and labor performance relative to other countries and to evaluate the competitive position of the United States in international trade. The charts provide a comparative labor market perspective which can be helpful in the development of public policy as well as corporate strategies.

Comparative data are presented in charts on such topics as employment growth, unemployment rates, and productivity growth. Findings show, for example, that Americans work more annual hours than Europeans, but about the same yearly hours as workers in most Asian countries charted. Also, labor and product markets are generally more flexible in the United States than elsewhere. Each chart includes the United States and selected Asian-Pacific and European countries for which suitable data are available.

Printed copies of the chartbook are available from Thelma Hackley at (202) 693 4874, or hackley.thelma@dol.gov.

The report is also available at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/oiea/chartbook/index.html.

Technical inquiries should be directed to the BLS Division of Foreign Labor Statistics at 202-691-5654.

# # #

_________________________________________________________________