International Comparisons
of Hourly Compensation Costs
for Production Workers
in Manufacturing,
1975-1997
SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES
for BLS News Release
USDL 98-376, September 16, 1998
NOTE: Incorporates revised data on average hourly
earnings or additional compensation costs for 16
countries. See Revised Measures box on page 6.
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Office of Productivity and Technology
September 1998
International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs
for Production Workers in Manufacturing, 1975-1997
SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES for BLS News Release
USDL 98-376, September 16, 1998
SECTION AND TABLE_____________________________________________________________PAGE
INTRODUCTION....................................................... 1
Definitions........................................................ 1
Methods............................................................ 2
Country notes...................................................... 3
Trade-weighted measures............................................ 4
Data limitations................................................... 5
Labor costs versus labor income.................................... 5
Box: Revised Measures.............................................. 6
COMPARATIVE LEVELS
Table 1. Indexes of hourly compensation costs...................... 7
Table 2. Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars................. 10
Table 3. Hourly compensation costs in national currency............ 13
Table 4. Indexes of hourly direct pay.............................. 16
Table 5. Hourly direct pay in U.S. dollars......................... 19
Table 6. Hourly direct pay in national currency.................... 22
Table 7. Indexes of pay for time worked............................ 25
Table 8. Pay for time worked in U.S. dollars....................... 28
Table 9. Pay for time worked in national currency.................. 31
STRUCTURE OF COMPENSATION
Table 10. Total direct pay as percent of total hourly
compensation costs....................................... 34
Table 11. Pay for time worked as percent of total
hourly compensation costs................................ 37
Table 12. Other direct pay as a percent of
hourly compensation costs................................ 40
Table 13. Social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes
as a percent of hourly compensation costs................ 43
EXCHANGE RATES
Table 14. Exchange rates........................................... 46
INTRODUCTION
The accompanying tables present international comparisons of hourly
compensation costs, hourly direct pay, and pay for time worked for
production workers in manufacturing in selected countries or areas. The
total compensation measures are prepared by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics in order to assess international differences in employer
labor costs. Comparisons based on the more readily available average
earnings statistics published by many countries can be very misleading.
National definitions of average earnings differ considerably; average
earnings do not include all items of labor compensation; and the omitted
items of compensation frequently represent a large proportion of total
compensation. The total direct pay and pay for time worked measures are
prepared to provide a comparable basis for analyzing the main components
of total compensation.
The compensation and other pay measures are computed in national
currency units and are converted into U.S. dollars at prevailing
commercial market currency exchange rates. They are appropriate
measures for comparing levels of employer labor costs. They do not
indicate relative living standards of workers or the purchasing power of
their income. Prices of goods and services vary greatly among
countries, and commercial market exchange rates are not reliable
indicators of relative differences in prices.
Definitions
Hourly compensation is defined as (1) hourly direct pay and (2)
employer social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes. Hourly
direct pay includes all payments made directly to the worker, before
payroll deductions of any kind, consisting of (a) pay for time worked
(basic time and piece rates plus overtime premiums, shift differentials,
other premiums and bonuses paid regularly each pay period, and cost-of-
living adjustments) and (b) other direct pay (pay for time not worked
(vacations, holidays, and other leave, except sick leave), seasonal or
irregular bonuses and other special payments, selected social
allowances, and the cost of payments in kind). Social insurance
expenditures and other labor taxes includes (c) employer expenditures
for legally required insurance programs and contractual and private
benefit plans (retirement and disability pensions, health insurance,
income guarantee insurance and sick leave, life and accident insurance,
occupational injury and illness compensation, unemployment insurance,
and family allowances) and, for some countries, (d) other labor taxes
(other taxes on payrolls or employment (or reductions to reflect
subsidies), even if they do not finance programs that directly benefit
workers, because such taxes are regarded as labor costs). For
consistency, compensation is measured on an hours-worked basis for every
country.
The BLS definition of hourly compensation costs is not the same as
the International Labour Office (ILO) definition of total labor costs.
Hourly compensation costs do not include all items of labor costs. The
costs of recruitment, employee training, and plant facilities and
services -- such as cafeterias and medical clinics -- are not included
because data are not available for most countries. The labor costs not
included account for no more than 4 percent of total labor costs in any
country for which data are available.
Hourly direct pay includes (a) pay for time worked (basic time and
piece rates plus overtime premiums, shift differentials, other premiums
and bonuses paid regularly each pay period, and cost-of-living
adjustments) and (b) other direct pay (pay for time not worked
(vacations, holidays, and other leave, except sick leave), seasonal or
irregular bonuses and other special payments, selected social
allowances, and the cost of payments in kind), before payroll deductions
of any kind. Direct pay is also measured on an hours-worked basis for
every country.
Pay for time worked includes only basic time and piece rates plus
overtime premiums, shift differentials, other premiums and bonuses paid
regularly each pay period, and cost-of-living adjustments (COLA's). Pay
for time worked is measured on an hours-worked basis for every country.
Production workers generally include those employees who are engaged
in fabricating, assembly, and related activities; material handling,
warehousing, and shipping; maintenance and repair; janitorial and guard
services; auxiliary production (e.g., powerplants); and other services
closely related to the above activities. Working supervisors are
generally included; apprentices and other trainees are generally
excluded.
Methods
Total compensation is computed by adjusting each country's average
earnings series for items of direct pay not included in earnings and for
employer expenditures for legally required insurance, contractual and
private benefit plans, and other labor taxes. Total direct pay is
computed by adjusting average earnings for items of direct pay not
included in earnings. Pay for time worked is measured by adjusting
average earnings, where necessary, to eliminate other items of direct
pay. For the United States and other countries that measure earnings on
an hours-paid basis, the figures are also adjusted in order to
approximate compensation or pay per hour worked. Descriptions of the
country surveys used for the Bureau's comparative measures, including
definitions and survey coverage, are based on information provided by
each country.
Earnings statistics are obtained from surveys of employment, hours,
and earnings for most countries. They are obtained from surveys or
censuses of manufactures for five countries -- Mexico, Israel, Austria,
Denmark, and Portugal. The surveys of employment, hours, and earnings
are stratified sample surveys of establishments for most countries
(except they are full surveys of establishments covered for Finland,
Luxembourg, and Norway and a judgment sample for Switzerland). The
surveys of manufactures are stratified sample surveys of establishments
which collect data on industrial production and other industrial
statistics, including labor input and labor cost. Censuses are complete
enumerations of business establishments.
Adjustment factors are obtained from periodic labor cost surveys and
interpolated or projected to non-survey years on the basis of other
available information for most countries. The labor cost surveys are
stratified sample surveys of establishments (full surveys for Ireland,
Italy, and Luxembourg). The information used to interpolate or project
the adjustment factors to non-survey years includes annual tabulations
on employer social security contribution rates provided by the
International Studies Staff of the U.S. Social Security Administration,
information on contractual and legislated fringe benefit changes from
ILO and national labor bulletins, and statistical series on indirect
labor costs. The adjustment factors are obtained from the surveys of
manufactures for Mexico and Portugal, and from reports on fringe benefit
systems and social security for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR) of China, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. For the
United States, the adjustment factors are special calculations for
international comparisons based on data from several surveys. For some
countries, data are not available to compute pay for time worked.
The statistics are also adjusted, where necessary, to account for
major differences in worker coverage; differences in industrial
classification systems; and changes over time in survey coverage, sample
benchmarks, or frequency of surveys. Nevertheless, some differences in
industrial coverage remain and, with the exception of the United States,
Canada, and several other countries, the data exclude very small
establishments (less than 5 employees in Japan and less than 10
employees in most European and some other countries). For the United
States, the methods used, as well as the results, differ somewhat from
those for other BLS series on U.S. compensation costs.
Special estimation procedures have been used for some countries
because of incomplete data. Hourly earnings are computed from daily or
monthly earnings using estimates of standard hours worked for Israel.
Earnings for production workers are estimated from all-employee earnings
for Japan (1990 to present), Korea (1975-84), New Zealand (all years),
and Israel (1978 to present). For Singapore, hourly compensation costs
are estimated for the years since 1985 using the trend in average weekly
earnings and benefit costs of production workers or average compensation
per employee from the national accounts. For Italy, both hourly
earnings and additional compensation adjustment factors are obtained
from periodic labor cost surveys and interpolated or projected to
nonsurvey years using the trend in contractual wage rates and in benefit
entitlements and costs. The adjustment factors for additional
compensation relate to all employees for Mexico, Japan, Korea, Taiwan,
France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the
United Kingdom; they are constants or the midpoints of constant ranges
for Hong Kong SAR, Israel, and New Zealand.
Hourly compensation costs, hourly direct pay, and pay for time worked
are converted to U.S. dollars using the average daily exchange rate for
the reference period. Changes in hourly compensation in U.S. dollars
from one period to another are therefore affected by changes in currency
exchange rates as well as by changes in compensation. The exchange
rates used are prevailing commercial market exchange rates as published
by either the U.S. Federal Reserve Board or the International Monetary
Fund.
Country notes
The following are exceptions to the standard coverage and definitions
explained above:
Australia: Compensation relates to production workers and nonproduction
workers other than those in managerial, executive, professional, and
higher supervisory positions.
Hong Kong SAR: Average of selected manufacturing industries. The
industries covered accounted for about 70 percent of all persons
employed in manufacturing in 1988. Compensation excludes overtime pay.
Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China in July
1997.
Austria: Excludes workers in establishments considered handicraft
manufacturers. (All printing and publishing and miscellaneous
manufacturing establishments are classified in handicrafts.) In 1986,
handicraft employment was about 35 percent of all manufacturing
employment. Average compensation per employee was about 10 percent
lower in manufacturing including handicrafts than in manufacturing
excluding handicrafts.
Finland: Includes workers in mining and electrical power plants. For
comparability with other countries, compensation excludes some
obligatory training and plant facilities costs; these costs would add
1.6 percent to average hourly compensation costs in 1994.
Germany: Refers to former West Germany. Excludes workers in
establishments considered handicraft manufacturers. In 1990, handicraft
employment was about 25 percent of all manufacturing employment.
Average hourly earnings of production workers were about 3 percent lower
in manufacturing including handicrafts than in manufacturing excluding
handicrafts.
Ireland: Data refer to September for 1975-76.
Norway: Pay for time worked includes irregular bonuses; irregular
bonuses account for only a small fraction of earnings. For
comparability with other countries, compensation excludes some
obligatory training and plant facilities costs; these costs would add
2.2 percent to average hourly compensation costs in 1994.
Portugal: Direct pay excludes profit-sharing bonuses but includes
social allowances. Profit-sharing bonuses are included in social
insurance expenditures.
Trade-weighted measures
The trade weights used to compute the average compensation cost
measures for selected country or economic groups are the sum of U.S.
imports of manufactured products for consumption (customs value) and
U.S. exports of domestic manufactured products (free along side (f.a.s.)
value) in 1992 for each country or area and each economic group. See
table A.
The trade data used to compute the weights are U.S. Bureau of the
Census statistics of U.S. imports and exports converted to an industrial
classification basis from data initially collected under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule commodity classification system.
The trade-weighted measures relate to all the countries or areas
covered in the series. Estimates are computed for missing country data
using the average trend in the other economies to estimate the missing
data.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
includes Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and all
European countries. (Mexico joined the OECD in 1994 and Korea joined in
1996, and the OECD trade-weighted measures are shown both including and
excluding those countries.) The European Union (formerly European
Community) consists of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Europe includes the EU countries
plus Norway and Switzerland. The group labeled "Asian NIEs" consists of
the four newly industrializing economies of Hong Kong SAR, Korea,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
Table A. Share of total U.S. imports and exports
of manufactured products in 1992
(in percent)
Country or area 1992 Country or area 1992
and trade and trade
economic group share economic group share
Canada 19.2 Greece .1
Mexico 7.6 Ireland .6
Italy 2.3
Australia 1.4 Luxembourg .1
Hong Kong SAR 1 2.0 Netherlands 1.9
Israel .8 Norway .3
Japan 15.8
Portugal .2
Korea 3.4 Spain .8
New Zealand .3 Sweden .8
Singapore 2.4 Switzerland 1.0
Sri Lanka .1 United Kingdom 4.4
Taiwan 4.4
Economic groups
Austria .3 28 foreign
Belgium 1.5 economies 80.8
Denmark .3 OECD 3 71.1
Finland .2 Europe 23.4
France 3.2 European Union 22.1
Germany 2 5.4 Asian NIEs 12.2
1 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
2 Former West Germany.
3 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Data limitations
Because compensation is partly estimated, the statistics should not
be considered as precise measures of comparative compensation costs. In
addition, the figures are subject to revision as the results of new
labor cost surveys or other data used to estimate compensation costs
become available.
The comparative level figures in these tables are averages for all
manufacturing industries and are not necessarily representative of all
component industries. In the United States and some other countries,
such as Japan, differentials in hourly compensation cost levels by
industry are quite wide. In contrast, other countries, such as Germany
and Sweden, have narrow differentials.
Labor costs versus labor income
The hourly compensation figures in U.S. dollars shown in the tables
provide comparative measures of employer labor costs; they do not
provide intercountry comparisons of the purchasing power of worker
incomes. Prices of goods and services vary greatly among countries, and
the commercial market exchange rates used to compare employer labor
costs do not reliably indicate relative differences in prices.
Purchasing power parities -- that is, the number of foreign currency
units required to buy goods and services equivalent to what can be
purchased with one unit of U.S. or other base-country currency -- must be
used for meaningful international comparisons of the relative purchasing
power of worker incomes.
Total compensation converted to U.S. dollars at purchasing power
parities would provide one measure for comparing relative real levels of
labor income. It should be noted, however, that total compensation
includes employer payments to funds for the benefit of workers in
addition to payments made directly to workers. (For a few countries,
the compensation measures also include taxes or subsidies on payrolls or
employment even if they do not finance programs which directly benefit
workers.) Payments into these funds provide either deferred income
(e.g., payments to retirement funds), a type of insurance (e.g.,
payments to unemployment or health benefit funds), or current social
benefits (e.g., family allowances), and the relationship between
employer payments and current or future worker benefits is indirect. On
the other hand, excluding these payments would understate the total
value of income derived from work because they substitute for worker
savings or self-insurance to cover retirement, medical costs, etc.
Total compensation, since it takes account of employer payments into
funds for the benefit of workers, is a broader income concept than
either total direct earnings or direct spendable earnings. An even
broader concept would take account of all social benefits available to
workers, including those financed out of general revenues as well as
those financed through employment or payroll taxes.
BOX: REVISED MEASURES
Revised underlying data on average hourly earnings or additional
compensation costs were incorporated for 16 of the countries covered in
this news release.
For 10 countries, revised data reflected changes in survey
methodology or BLS calculation methods. The resulting differences in
hourly compensation cost levels for 1996 were more than one percent for
four countries -- Mexico, Taiwan, France, and Italy.
Data from the Canadian survey of employment, payrolls, and hours were
revised back to 1983 for selected industries, but, for total
manufacturing, the average hourly earnings were changed only for 1993.
The revisions are part of an ongoing re-engineering of the survey, and
future revisions are possible.
For Mexico, a new monthly industrial survey with expanded industry
coverage resulted in a higher earnings trend since 1994. For Japan,
monthly labor survey benchmarks made every three years were incorporated
in the BLS calculations.
Earnings survey data published on new industrial classification
systems were incorporated for four other countries. New series were
linked to old for Sweden and the United Kingdom, while old series were
linked to new for Germany. A link was not possible for Spain.
Labor cost surveys for 1989-96 were incorporated for Taiwan.
Compensation cost levels were revised back to 1993 for both Italy and
Sweden to incorporate new information on holiday and vacation pay and
employer social insurance expenditures for Italy, and a different
calculation for sick leave pay for Sweden.
For France, revised cost levels back to 1989 reflect an adjustment of
the bonus payments as reported in the 1992 European Union harmonized
labor cost survey. A change in collection procedures in the 1992 survey
resulted in a discontinuity in the data on irregular versus regular
bonuses; BLS held constant the bonus ratios from the previous 1988 labor
cost survey.
END OF BOX (REVISED MEASURES)
Table 1. Indexes of hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 94 102 97 90 87 88 88 89
Mexico .................... 23 24 18 20 21 22 26 17
Australia ................. 88 90 83 85 83 86 90 85
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 12 13 14 14 14 15 14 14
Israel .................... 35 34 35 31 37 38 38 38
Japan ..................... 47 47 52 66 60 56 56 48
Korea ..................... 5 6 7 9 11 10 9 9
New Zealand ............... 50 43 44 50 52 54 52 48
Singapore ................. 13 12 12 13 14 15 17 17
Sri Lanka ................. 4 3 4 3 3 2 2 2
Taiwan .................... 6 7 7 7 9 10 11 11
Austria ................... 71 69 75 83 88 90 72 67
Belgium ................... 101 100 109 122 131 133 104 81
Denmark ................... 99 96 96 108 116 110 87 76
Finland ................... 72 75 74 71 83 83 74 69
France .................... 71 68 69 78 85 91 74 67
Germany 2 ................. 99 97 103 116 124 124 96 88
Greece .................... 27 28 30 34 37 38 34 35
Ireland ................... 48 41 41 48 54 60 51 49
Italy ..................... 73 63 66 70 78 83 70 64
Luxembourg ................ 102 101 106 119 123 122 91 74
Netherlands ............... 103 100 106 121 126 122 91 84
Norway .................... 106 109 113 115 114 117 101 93
Portugal .................. 25 24 21 20 19 21 19 16
Spain ..................... 40 41 42 47 59 60 51 45
Sweden .................... 113 119 117 117 125 127 109 86
Switzerland ............... 96 93 91 116 117 112 93 89
United Kingdom ............ 53 46 45 53 63 77 67 59
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 60 61 61 65 66 67 62 57
OECD 4 .................... 67 68 68 73 73 74 68 63
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 76 77 78 83 83 84 77 72
Europe .................... 80 76 79 89 97 100 81 73
European Union ............ 79 75 78 87 96 100 80 72
Asian NIEs ................ 8 9 9 10 11 12 12 12
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 1. Indexes of hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 92 89 84 84 89 97 103 106
Mexico .................... 12 12 12 8 8 9 10 11
Australia ................. 77 78 63 64 70 82 87 88
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 12 13 13 14 15 17 19 21
Israel .................... 40 37 31 39 47 55 54 57
Japan ..................... 50 50 49 70 80 91 88 86
Korea ..................... 9 10 9 10 12 16 22 25
New Zealand ............... 43 37 34 41 50 59 54 56
Singapore ................. 18 20 19 17 17 19 22 25
Sri Lanka ................. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Taiwan .................... 11 11 12 13 17 20 25 26
Austria ................... 64 59 58 81 101 104 99 119
Belgium ................... 75 69 69 94 113 114 108 129
Denmark ................... 72 64 62 83 108 109 101 121
Finland ................... 62 62 63 81 99 113 118 141
France .................... 64 58 58 78 91 93 88 104
Germany 2 ................. 84 75 73 101 125 131 123 147
Greece .................... 31 30 28 31 34 38 38 45
Ireland ................... 47 45 46 60 69 72 67 78
Italy ..................... 63 59 59 79 96 101 101 117
Luxembourg ................ 67 62 60 82 99 102 97 112
Netherlands ............... 78 69 67 92 112 114 105 121
Norway .................... 85 80 80 100 124 133 128 144
Portugal .................. 13 12 12 16 19 20 21 25
Spain ..................... 38 36 36 47 56 61 63 76
Sweden .................... 73 73 74 94 112 121 122 140
Switzerland ............... 86 77 74 104 126 129 117 140
United Kingdom ............ 53 48 48 58 67 76 74 85
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 56 54 52 61 70 77 77 83
OECD 4 .................... 62 59 57 68 77 84 84 90
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 71 67 65 78 90 97 97 104
Europe .................... 68 62 61 81 98 103 99 116
European Union ............ 67 61 60 80 97 102 98 115
Asian NIEs ................ 12 13 13 13 15 18 23 25
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 1. Indexes of hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 110 106 100 94 93 94 91
Mexico .................... 12 13 15 15 9 9 10
Australia ................. 87 81 76 83 88 93 88
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 23 24 26 27 28 29 30
Israel .................... 56 56 53 54 61 62 66
Japan ..................... 94 102 116 127 139 118 106
Korea ..................... 30 32 34 38 42 46 40
New Zealand ............... 54 49 49 53 59 62 60
Singapore ................. 28 31 32 37 43 47 45
Sri Lanka ................. 3 2 3 3 3 3 -
Taiwan .................... 28 32 32 33 34 34 32
Austria ................... 116 126 122 128 147 139 120
Belgium ................... 127 137 130 137 155 146 125
Denmark ................... 118 126 116 120 140 136 121
Finland ................... 136 124 101 113 140 133 118
France .................... 100 109 102 105 116 113 99
Germany 2 ................. 145 158 153 160 187 180 155
Greece .................... 45 47 44 46 53 54 -
Ireland ................... 76 82 72 73 79 78 74
Italy ..................... 118 120 96 94 94 100 92
Luxembourg ................ 110 119 114 121 136 127 -
Netherlands ............... 116 125 122 123 140 130 113
Norway .................... 139 143 122 124 142 142 130
Portugal .................. 27 32 27 27 31 32 29
Spain ..................... 79 84 70 68 75 76 67
Sweden .................... 142 153 107 110 125 138 122
Switzerland ............... 139 144 137 148 170 160 133
United Kingdom ............ 88 89 75 76 80 80 85
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 86 88 87 89 95 91 84
OECD 4 .................... 93 96 94 96 103 98 90
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 107 110 108 110 119 112 103
Europe .................... 115 122 111 115 129 125 112
European Union ............ 114 121 110 113 127 124 111
Asian NIEs ................ 28 30 31 34 37 39 36
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 2. Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. $6.36 $6.92 $7.59 $8.28 $9.04 $9.87 $10.87 $11.68
Canada .................... 5.96 7.06 7.35 7.42 7.87 8.67 9.55 10.44
Mexico .................... 1.47 1.64 1.34 1.62 1.91 2.21 2.82 1.97
Australia ................. 5.62 6.22 6.29 7.00 7.47 8.47 9.80 9.98
Hong Kong SAR 1............ .76 .87 1.03 1.18 1.31 1.51 1.55 1.66
Israel .................... 2.25 2.38 2.68 2.57 3.30 3.79 4.18 4.43
Japan ..................... 3.00 3.25 3.96 5.45 5.40 5.52 6.08 5.60
Korea ..................... .32 .42 .56 .76 1.01 .96 1.02 1.09
New Zealand ............... 3.21 3.00 3.37 4.14 4.71 5.33 5.69 5.62
Singapore ................. .84 .86 .91 1.05 1.26 1.49 1.80 1.96
Sri Lanka ................. .28 .24 .32 .26 .23 .22 .21 .24
Taiwan .................... .40 .46 .53 .62 .79 1.00 1.21 1.24
Austria ................... 4.51 4.78 5.67 6.91 7.96 8.88 7.78 7.78
Belgium ................... 6.41 6.90 8.29 10.14 11.82 13.11 11.31 9.49
Denmark ................... 6.28 6.63 7.25 8.98 10.53 10.83 9.41 8.87
Finland ................... 4.61 5.19 5.58 5.88 7.51 8.24 8.04 8.03
France .................... 4.52 4.70 5.21 6.43 7.69 8.94 8.02 7.85
Germany 2 ................. 6.31 6.68 7.81 9.58 11.21 12.25 10.45 10.28
Greece .................... 1.69 1.92 2.29 2.84 3.37 3.73 3.66 4.12
Ireland ................... 3.03 2.86 3.12 3.97 4.85 5.95 5.59 5.71
Italy ..................... 4.67 4.34 4.99 5.83 7.06 8.15 7.57 7.44
Luxembourg ................ 6.50 6.99 8.06 9.86 11.12 12.03 9.85 8.61
Netherlands ............... 6.58 6.90 8.02 9.98 11.41 12.06 9.91 9.78
Norway .................... 6.77 7.52 8.56 9.51 10.28 11.59 11.01 10.83
Portugal .................. 1.58 1.66 1.58 1.63 1.68 2.06 2.04 1.88
Spain ..................... 2.53 2.86 3.18 3.88 5.31 5.89 5.55 5.28
Sweden .................... 7.18 8.25 8.88 9.65 11.33 12.51 11.80 10.07
Switzerland ............... 6.09 6.45 6.88 9.59 10.56 11.09 10.14 10.42
United Kingdom ............ 3.37 3.21 3.45 4.41 5.70 7.56 7.31 6.92
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 3.83 4.23 4.64 5.40 5.97 6.60 6.71 6.67
OECD 4 .................... 4.25 4.70 5.15 6.01 6.62 7.30 7.40 7.34
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 4.82 5.33 5.89 6.86 7.54 8.30 8.34 8.37
Europe .................... 5.10 5.29 6.00 7.37 8.74 9.90 8.83 8.49
European Union ............ 5.03 5.20 5.93 7.24 8.64 9.83 8.74 8.37
Asian NIEs ................ .52 .59 .70 .84 1.03 1.17 1.33 1.41
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 2. Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. $12.14 $12.55 $13.01 $13.26 $13.52 $13.91 $14.32 $14.91
Canada .................... 11.13 11.14 10.94 11.10 12.04 13.50 14.77 15.84
Mexico .................... 1.42 1.56 1.59 1.09 1.04 1.25 1.43 1.58
Australia ................. 9.31 9.83 8.20 8.54 9.46 11.35 12.41 13.07
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 1.51 1.58 1.73 1.88 2.09 2.40 2.79 3.20
Israel .................... 4.88 4.65 4.06 5.20 6.34 7.67 7.69 8.55
Japan ..................... 6.03 6.23 6.34 9.22 10.79 12.63 12.53 12.80
Korea ..................... 1.15 1.20 1.23 1.31 1.59 2.20 3.17 3.71
New Zealand ............... 5.19 4.65 4.47 5.50 6.77 8.19 7.80 8.33
Singapore ................. 2.21 2.46 2.47 2.23 2.31 2.67 3.15 3.78
Sri Lanka ................. .25 .25 .28 .29 .30 .31 .31 .35
Taiwan .................... 1.29 1.42 1.50 1.73 2.26 2.81 3.52 3.93
Austria ................... 7.81 7.35 7.58 10.73 13.67 14.52 14.16 17.75
Belgium ................... 9.08 8.63 8.97 12.43 15.25 15.82 15.48 19.17
Denmark ................... 8.69 8.03 8.13 11.07 14.61 15.19 14.53 18.04
Finland ................... 7.54 7.77 8.16 10.71 13.44 15.70 16.85 21.03
France .................... 7.74 7.29 7.52 10.28 12.29 12.95 12.65 15.49
Germany 2 ................. 10.19 9.37 9.53 13.34 16.91 18.16 17.66 21.88
Greece .................... 3.78 3.74 3.66 4.07 4.61 5.22 5.49 6.76
Ireland ................... 5.67 5.59 5.92 8.02 9.31 10.00 9.61 11.66
Italy ..................... 7.70 7.35 7.63 10.47 13.02 13.98 14.40 17.45
Luxembourg ................ 8.15 7.79 7.81 10.86 13.35 14.22 13.92 16.74
Netherlands ............... 9.49 8.70 8.75 12.22 15.14 15.83 15.00 18.06
Norway .................... 10.32 10.07 10.37 13.24 16.79 18.45 18.29 21.47
Portugal .................. 1.62 1.45 1.53 2.08 2.52 2.78 2.97 3.77
Spain ..................... 4.56 4.47 4.66 6.25 7.63 8.55 8.96 11.38
Sweden .................... 8.89 9.17 9.66 12.43 15.12 16.82 17.52 20.93
Switzerland ............... 10.46 9.64 9.66 13.76 17.08 18.01 16.73 20.86
United Kingdom ............ 6.49 6.04 6.27 7.66 9.09 10.61 10.56 12.70
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 6.80 6.73 6.74 8.15 9.49 10.65 11.00 12.33
OECD 4 .................... 7.48 7.38 7.39 8.97 10.43 11.68 12.01 13.46
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 8.60 8.47 8.48 10.40 12.12 13.54 13.85 15.51
Europe .................... 8.27 7.75 7.96 10.80 13.32 14.38 14.14 17.31
European Union ............ 8.14 7.64 7.85 10.63 13.10 14.16 13.96 17.09
Asian NIEs ................ 1.47 1.59 1.65 1.74 2.06 2.55 3.23 3.72
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 2. Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. $15.58 $16.09 $16.51 $16.87 $17.19 $17.70 $18.24
Canada .................... 17.16 17.03 16.43 15.85 16.04 16.66 16.55
Mexico .................... 1.84 2.17 2.40 2.47 1.51 1.54 1.75
Australia ................. 13.53 13.02 12.49 14.02 15.05 16.52 16.00
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.58 3.92 4.29 4.61 4.82 5.14 5.42
Israel .................... 8.79 9.09 8.82 9.19 10.54 10.99 12.05
Japan ..................... 14.67 16.38 19.21 21.35 23.82 20.91 19.37
Korea ..................... 4.61 5.22 5.64 6.40 7.29 8.09 7.22
New Zealand ............... 8.36 7.91 8.01 8.93 10.11 11.03 11.02
Singapore ................. 4.35 4.95 5.25 6.29 7.33 8.32 8.24
Sri Lanka ................. .40 .40 .42 .45 .48 .48 -
Taiwan .................... 4.36 5.09 5.23 5.55 5.92 5.93 5.89
Austria ................... 18.09 20.29 20.16 21.51 25.21 24.66 21.92
Belgium ................... 19.75 22.05 21.44 23.07 26.65 25.89 22.82
Denmark ................... 18.39 20.20 19.11 20.30 24.07 24.11 22.02
Finland ................... 21.25 19.92 16.63 19.06 24.14 23.56 21.44
France .................... 15.65 17.46 16.79 17.63 20.01 19.92 17.97
Germany 2 ................. 22.63 25.38 25.32 27.03 32.22 31.79 28.28
Greece .................... 6.95 7.60 7.23 7.73 9.17 9.59 -
Ireland ................... 11.91 13.12 11.89 12.39 13.57 13.85 13.57
Italy ..................... 18.32 19.35 15.80 15.89 16.21 17.73 16.74
Luxembourg ................ 17.14 19.10 18.74 20.33 23.35 22.55 -
Netherlands ............... 18.13 20.10 20.08 20.80 24.02 23.08 20.61
Norway .................... 21.63 23.03 20.21 20.97 24.38 25.05 23.72
Portugal .................. 4.24 5.17 4.50 4.60 5.37 5.58 5.29
Spain ..................... 12.29 13.50 11.62 11.54 12.88 13.51 12.16
Sweden .................... 22.15 24.59 17.59 18.62 21.44 24.37 22.24
Switzerland ............... 21.69 23.23 22.63 24.91 29.30 28.34 24.19
United Kingdom ............ 13.74 14.37 12.41 12.80 13.67 14.13 15.47
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 13.32 14.24 14.32 15.01 16.38 16.09 15.25
OECD 4 .................... 14.52 15.48 15.55 16.27 17.75 17.37 16.40
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 16.69 17.75 17.78 18.57 20.39 19.90 18.77
Europe .................... 17.96 19.67 18.36 19.33 22.10 22.19 20.46
European Union ............ 17.74 19.46 18.14 19.05 21.75 21.87 20.24
Asian NIEs ................ 4.30 4.91 5.19 5.78 6.40 6.87 6.65
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 3. Hourly compensation costs in national currency for production workers in
manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 6.36 6.92 7.59 8.28 9.04 9.87 10.87 11.68
Canada .................... 6.07 6.96 7.81 8.46 9.21 10.13 11.45 12.88
Mexico .................... 18 24 30 37 43 51 69 111
Australia ................. 4.30 5.10 5.67 6.12 6.68 7.43 8.53 9.82
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.73 4.28 4.82 5.54 6.57 7.50 8.66 10.06
Israel .................... 1.44 1.90 2.81 4.49 8.41 19.42 47.72 108
Japan ..................... 889 963 1060 1136 1179 1245 1339 1396
Korea ..................... 157 203 271 369 487 583 691 793
New Zealand ............... 2.65 3.03 3.48 3.99 4.61 5.48 6.55 7.48
Singapore ................. 2.00 2.13 2.22 2.39 2.74 3.20 3.80 4.20
Sri Lanka ................. 1.97 2.04 2.88 4.13 3.54 3.58 3.97 4.99
Taiwan .................... 15.17 17.37 19.98 22.84 28.47 36.13 44.47 48.42
Austria ................... 78.46 85.77 93.77 100.20 106.39 114.78 123.60 132.66
Belgium ................... 235.10 266.36 297.07 318.88 346.66 382.88 418.66 434.66
Denmark ................... 36.00 40.07 43.50 49.47 55.39 60.98 66.84 73.98
Finland ................... 16.88 19.99 22.40 24.16 27.07 30.64 34.71 38.63
France .................... 19.34 22.45 25.62 28.93 32.71 37.73 43.39 51.66
Germany 2 ................. 15.48 16.82 18.12 19.21 20.55 22.23 23.56 24.96
Greece .................... 55 70 84 105 125 159 203 275
Ireland ................... 1.36 1.58 1.79 2.07 2.37 2.89 3.46 4.02
Italy ..................... 3048 3606 4405 4950 5863 6966 8564 10068
Luxembourg ................ 239 270 289 310 326 352 366 394
Netherlands ............... 16.59 18.22 19.69 21.56 22.88 23.93 24.64 26.14
Norway .................... 35.29 41.01 45.54 49.84 52.05 57.20 63.09 69.93
Portugal .................. 40.26 50.12 60.17 71.51 82.29 103.28 125.42 150.69
Spain ..................... 145 191 239 297 356 422 511 581
Sweden .................... 29.73 35.93 39.68 43.59 48.57 52.91 59.40 63.31
Switzerland ............... 15.72 16.12 16.50 17.04 17.57 18.57 19.88 21.19
United Kingdom ............ 1.52 1.78 1.98 2.30 2.68 3.25 3.61 3.96
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 3. Hourly compensation costs in national currency for production workers in
manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 12.14 12.55 13.01 13.26 13.52 13.91 14.32 14.91
Canada .................... 13.71 14.43 14.94 15.42 15.97 16.61 17.48 18.49
Mexico .................... 170 262 409 667 1437 2834 3509 4440
Australia ................. 10.32 11.18 11.70 12.73 13.49 14.47 15.68 16.74
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 10.97 12.35 13.46 14.64 16.31 18.74 21.79 24.91
Israel .................... 274 1364 4.79 7.74 10.12 12.27 14.73 17.24
Japan ..................... 1432 1480 1512 1553 1560 1620 1730 1856
Korea ..................... 892 970 1074 1153 1311 1610 2127 2623
New Zealand ............... 7.77 8.05 8.98 10.47 11.42 12.48 13.14 13.98
Singapore ................. 4.67 5.25 5.43 4.86 4.87 5.37 6.15 6.85
Sri Lanka ................. 5.82 6.48 7.58 8.13 8.82 9.81 11.11 14.05
Taiwan .................... 51.65 56.39 59.60 65.37 71.93 80.29 92.91 105.68
Austria ................... 140.26 147.05 156.75 163.69 172.96 179.45 187.49 201.07
Belgium ................... 463.97 498.25 532.39 554.91 569.91 581.89 610.19 640.60
Denmark ................... 79.49 83.06 86.18 89.65 100.07 102.40 106.38 111.65
Finland ................... 41.97 46.60 50.56 54.33 59.17 65.81 72.39 80.56
France .................... 59.01 63.71 67.49 71.23 73.91 77.17 80.72 84.38
Germany 2 ................. 26.02 26.65 28.04 28.94 30.40 31.90 33.22 35.37
Greece .................... 333 422 506 570 625 741 892 1071
Ireland ................... 4.54 5.14 5.55 5.98 6.25 6.56 6.78 7.03
Italy ..................... 11703 12898 14563 15616 16890 18201 19750 20900
Luxembourg ................ 417 450 464 485 498 523 549 559
Netherlands ............... 27.09 27.93 29.04 29.91 30.68 31.31 31.82 32.90
Norway .................... 75.34 82.15 89.11 97.99 113.18 120.37 126.43 134.26
Portugal .................. 181.19 213.92 263.37 311.04 356.13 400.97 467.42 538.11
Spain ..................... 654 719 792 874 942 997 1061 1161
Sweden .................... 68.23 75.88 83.12 88.58 95.99 103.24 113.11 123.98
Switzerland ............... 21.98 22.65 23.71 24.74 25.48 26.37 27.38 29.00
United Kingdom ............ 4.28 4.52 4.84 5.22 5.54 5.95 6.45 7.12
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 3. Hourly compensation costs in national currency for production workers in
manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 15.58 16.09 16.51 16.87 17.19 17.70 18.24
Canada .................... 19.66 20.59 21.20 21.66 22.02 22.73 22.92
Mexico .................... 5541 6716 7.48 8.34 9.69 11.68 13.86
Australia ................. 17.37 17.71 18.37 19.16 20.32 21.09 21.52
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 27.82 30.31 33.19 35.65 37.30 39.74 41.99
Israel .................... 20.04 22.36 24.97 27.66 31.73 36.14 41.55
Japan ..................... 1975 2077 2134 2182 2238 2275 2344
Korea ..................... 3383 4075 4531 5141 5620 6506 6862
New Zealand ............... 14.46 14.70 14.79 15.06 15.41 16.04 16.62
Singapore ................. 7.51 8.07 8.49 9.61 10.39 11.73 12.25
Sri Lanka ................. 16.58 17.51 20.20 22.32 24.45 26.49 -
Taiwan .................... 116.66 128.02 138.27 146.79 156.83 162.87 169.48
Austria ................... 211.44 222.93 234.70 245.38 254.07 261.18 267.62
Belgium ................... 675.43 709.06 741.27 771.23 785.47 801.77 817.19
Denmark ................... 117.75 121.96 123.96 129.00 134.77 139.86 145.54
Finland ................... 86.11 89.40 95.19 99.76 105.65 108.24 111.40
France .................... 88.39 92.44 95.14 97.76 99.76 101.91 104.94
Germany 2 ................. 37.59 39.64 41.90 43.84 46.14 47.85 49.06
Greece .................... 1266 1449 1659 1876 2124 2309 -
Ireland ................... 7.38 7.70 8.12 8.28 8.46 8.66 8.95
Italy ..................... 22734 23841 24858 25591 26398 27352 28528
Luxembourg ................ 585 614 648 680 688 698 -
Netherlands ............... 33.94 35.35 37.32 37.84 38.52 38.91 40.26
Norway .................... 140.43 143.13 143.47 147.92 154.44 161.78 168.10
Portugal .................. 614.62 697.80 724.15 763.09 804.35 860.39 927.61
Spain ..................... 1278 1383 1481 1545 1604 1712 1781
Sweden .................... 134.04 143.26 137.16 143.64 153.14 163.46 169.99
Switzerland ............... 31.14 32.66 33.45 34.06 34.61 35.03 35.10
United Kingdom ............ 7.77 8.14 8.27 8.36 8.66 9.05 9.44
Dash means data not available.
Note: National currency units are United States, dollar; Canada, dollar;
Mexico, old peso (1975-92), new peso (1993-97); Australia, dollar;
Hong Kong SAR, dollar; Israel, shekel (1975-84), new shekel (1985-97);
Japan, yen; Korea, won; New Zealand, dollar; Singapore, dollar;
Sri Lanka, rupee; Taiwan, dollar; Austria, shilling; Belgium, franc;
Denmark, krone; Finland, markkaa; France, franc; Germany, mark;
Greece, drachma; Ireland, pound, Italy, lira; Luxembourg, franc;
Netherlands, guilder; Norway, krone; Portugal, escudo; Spain, peseta;
Sweden, krona; Switzerland, franc; United Kingdom, pound.
See other notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 4. Indexes of hourly direct pay for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 102 112 106 97 95 97 97 99
Mexico .................... 25 26 19 22 23 25 29 19
Australia ................. 92 94 87 90 88 92 96 92
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 14 15 16 17 17 18 17 17
Israel .................... 35 34 35 31 37 39 39 39
Japan ..................... 51 51 56 70 65 61 61 53
Korea ..................... 5 7 8 10 12 11 10 11
New Zealand ............... 57 49 51 57 60 63 61 57
Singapore ................. 14 13 13 13 14 15 16 17
Sri Lanka ................. 5 4 5 4 3 3 2 2
Taiwan .................... 7 8 8 9 10 12 13 12
Austria ................... 67 65 71 79 83 85 68 63
Belgium ................... 93 94 103 116 124 126 100 81
Denmark ................... 114 111 111 127 137 130 103 91
Finland ................... 69 71 69 68 80 81 72 68
France .................... 63 60 61 69 76 81 66 60
Germany 2 ................. 96 93 100 112 121 121 94 87
Greece .................... 27 28 31 35 38 39 35 37
Ireland ................... 51 44 44 52 59 66 55 52
Italy ..................... 59 50 55 59 66 72 62 56
Luxembourg ................ 105 104 110 124 129 128 95 78
Netherlands ............... 95 92 98 112 118 115 86 80
Norway .................... 105 108 113 115 113 117 101 93
Portugal .................. 24 23 20 19 18 20 18 16
Spain ..................... 33 35 37 42 54 55 47 42
Sweden .................... 105 108 104 105 113 114 97 78
Switzerland ............... 97 95 93 119 121 117 97 94
United Kingdom ............ 56 49 47 55 64 78 68 61
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 62 63 63 67 68 70 65 60
OECD 4 .................... 69 70 70 75 76 77 71 66
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 78 80 80 85 86 87 80 76
Europe .................... 76 72 75 85 93 97 78 71
European Union ............ 75 71 74 83 91 95 77 70
Asian NIEs ................ 9 10 10 11 13 13 14 14
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 4. Indexes of hourly direct pay for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 101 97 92 91 97 106 113 116
Mexico .................... 13 14 14 9 9 10 11 12
Australia ................. 83 84 67 68 74 86 92 93
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 15 15 16 17 19 21 24 26
Israel .................... 41 38 32 40 48 57 56 60
Japan ..................... 55 54 53 76 87 99 95 94
Korea ..................... 11 11 11 11 13 18 25 28
New Zealand ............... 50 44 40 49 59 69 64 66
Singapore ................. 18 19 18 18 19 21 24 28
Sri Lanka ................. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3
Taiwan .................... 12 13 13 15 19 23 29 31
Austria ................... 60 54 54 74 93 96 91 111
Belgium ................... 74 67 65 86 103 104 99 118
Denmark ................... 84 75 74 99 127 134 125 149
Finland ................... 62 61 62 79 97 108 113 135
France .................... 56 51 51 68 81 82 78 92
Germany 2 ................. 82 73 71 97 121 127 120 143
Greece .................... 32 31 29 31 34 38 39 47
Ireland ................... 50 47 48 63 73 76 71 84
Italy ..................... 56 52 52 69 84 88 86 100
Luxembourg ................ 72 66 64 86 104 108 103 120
Netherlands ............... 75 67 64 87 107 109 101 119
Norway .................... 86 81 80 100 125 133 129 147
Portugal .................. 13 11 11 15 18 19 20 24
Spain ..................... 35 33 34 44 53 58 59 72
Sweden .................... 65 64 65 82 98 106 107 124
Switzerland ............... 91 81 78 108 132 136 123 148
United Kingdom ............ 56 51 51 61 71 81 79 91
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 59 57 54 64 73 80 80 86
OECD 4 .................... 65 62 60 70 80 87 87 94
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 75 71 68 81 93 101 101 108
Europe .................... 66 60 59 78 95 100 95 112
European Union ............ 65 59 58 76 92 97 93 110
Asian NIEs ................ 13 14 14 15 17 21 26 28
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 4. Indexes of hourly direct pay for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 120 115 107 100 99 99 96
Mexico .................... 13 15 17 17 10 10 11
Australia ................. 93 88 81 89 93 99 93
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 28 30 32 34 35 36 37
Israel .................... 59 60 57 58 65 65 69
Japan ..................... 104 113 129 139 151 128 115
Korea ..................... 32 35 37 40 46 49 42
New Zealand ............... 64 60 59 64 71 75 72
Singapore ................. 30 34 35 40 45 50 48
Sri Lanka ................. 3 3 3 3 3 3 -
Taiwan .................... 33 38 38 39 40 39 37
Austria ................... 109 119 114 118 135 128 111
Belgium ................... 117 127 120 126 142 134 114
Denmark ................... 145 156 144 148 170 165 146
Finland ................... 133 123 97 107 136 131 115
France .................... 89 97 90 92 102 99 86
Germany 2 ................. 143 155 152 155 179 171 146
Greece .................... 46 49 44 46 53 54 -
Ireland ................... 83 89 79 81 86 85 81
Italy ..................... 103 107 85 84 83 88 80
Luxembourg ................ 119 130 124 131 150 140 -
Netherlands ............... 115 125 120 122 137 128 111
Norway .................... 144 150 131 133 150 149 137
Portugal .................. 26 31 27 27 31 31 28
Spain ..................... 75 81 67 65 71 72 63
Sweden .................... 125 135 100 103 114 125 111
Switzerland ............... 148 155 148 158 180 169 140
United Kingdom ............ 94 98 83 85 88 88 94
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 90 93 92 93 99 94 86
OECD 4 .................... 97 101 99 101 107 101 92
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 112 115 113 115 122 115 106
Europe .................... 112 120 110 112 125 121 108
European Union ............ 110 118 108 110 122 119 107
Asian NIEs ................ 32 35 36 39 42 43 41
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 5. Hourly direct pay in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. $5.30 $5.73 $6.24 $6.77 $7.35 $7.98 $8.77 $9.32
Canada .................... 5.43 6.39 6.59 6.60 7.01 7.74 8.47 9.21
Mexico .................... 1.33 1.48 1.21 1.47 1.72 1.99 2.53 1.76
Australia ................. 4.89 5.41 5.45 6.06 6.47 7.34 8.43 8.58
Hong Kong SAR 1............ .73 .85 1.00 1.14 1.27 1.46 1.50 1.60
Israel .................... 1.86 1.96 2.21 2.12 2.73 3.13 3.45 3.66
Japan ..................... 2.70 2.90 3.51 4.77 4.75 4.89 5.36 4.92
Korea ..................... .29 .38 .51 .69 .91 .87 .92 .98
New Zealand ............... 3.01 2.82 3.17 3.89 4.43 5.01 5.35 5.28
Singapore ................. .72 .74 .78 .89 1.04 1.18 1.43 1.55
Sri Lanka ................. .25 .22 .29 .24 .21 .20 .18 .21
Taiwan .................... .37 .43 .49 .58 .74 .94 1.13 1.16
Austria ................... 3.53 3.73 4.42 5.35 6.13 6.80 5.92 5.88
Belgium ................... 4.94 5.36 6.42 7.85 9.12 10.07 8.78 7.57
Denmark ................... 6.04 6.36 6.95 8.58 10.08 10.36 9.00 8.47
Finland ................... 3.65 4.07 4.32 4.57 5.85 6.45 6.31 6.31
France .................... 3.35 3.46 3.82 4.69 5.59 6.50 5.82 5.63
Germany 2 ................. 5.09 5.31 6.23 7.61 8.87 9.68 8.25 8.09
Greece .................... 1.41 1.60 1.91 2.37 2.81 3.11 3.05 3.41
Ireland ................... 2.69 2.53 2.76 3.52 4.33 5.23 4.84 4.89
Italy ..................... 3.14 2.89 3.41 4.01 4.86 5.75 5.41 5.26
Luxembourg ................ 5.57 5.95 6.85 8.40 9.49 10.23 8.37 7.31
Netherlands ............... 5.06 5.27 6.13 7.60 8.66 9.16 7.53 7.49
Norway .................... 5.58 6.17 7.03 7.79 8.27 9.32 8.84 8.65
Portugal .................. 1.28 1.34 1.25 1.29 1.33 1.61 1.60 1.46
Spain ..................... 1.76 1.99 2.30 2.85 3.95 4.37 4.11 3.92
Sweden .................... 5.57 6.21 6.49 7.09 8.29 9.09 8.52 7.26
Switzerland ............... 5.16 5.46 5.81 8.09 8.90 9.34 8.55 8.80
United Kingdom ............ 2.98 2.80 2.95 3.73 4.74 6.20 6.00 5.73
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 3.30 3.63 3.95 4.56 5.02 5.55 5.67 5.63
OECD 4 .................... 3.66 4.03 4.38 5.07 5.56 6.13 6.24 6.18
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 4.14 4.56 5.00 5.77 6.31 6.95 7.02 7.04
Europe .................... 4.04 4.15 4.70 5.76 6.81 7.70 6.88 6.62
European Union ............ 3.96 4.06 4.62 5.63 6.69 7.61 6.77 6.49
Asian NIEs ................ 0.48 0.55 0.64 0.76 0.93 1.05 1.19 1.26
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 5. Hourly direct pay in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. $9.69 $10.04 $10.43 $10.65 $10.83 $11.12 $11.41 $11.80
Canada .................... 9.79 9.77 9.58 9.68 10.50 11.75 12.86 13.73
Mexico .................... 1.25 1.39 1.42 0.98 0.93 1.12 1.28 1.41
Australia ................. 8.00 8.46 6.99 7.24 8.02 9.61 10.51 10.99
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 1.46 1.53 1.67 1.82 2.02 2.32 2.70 3.09
Israel .................... 4.02 3.84 3.35 4.29 5.23 6.33 6.35 7.06
Japan ..................... 5.29 5.47 5.54 8.05 9.40 10.98 10.86 11.07
Korea ..................... 1.04 1.08 1.11 1.18 1.43 1.99 2.82 3.25
New Zealand ............... 4.88 4.38 4.20 5.17 6.37 7.70 7.34 7.84
Singapore ................. 1.73 1.90 1.92 1.93 2.09 2.39 2.77 3.25
Sri Lanka ................. .21 .22 .24 .25 .26 .26 .26 .30
Taiwan .................... 1.20 1.33 1.40 1.60 2.09 2.60 3.26 3.63
Austria ................... 5.86 5.46 5.60 7.92 10.06 10.67 10.43 13.08
Belgium ................... 7.15 6.68 6.76 9.12 11.15 11.58 11.27 13.94
Denmark ................... 8.17 7.55 7.68 10.58 13.75 14.89 14.24 17.57
Finland ................... 6.00 6.16 6.45 8.44 10.48 12.04 12.88 15.92
France .................... 5.47 5.14 5.33 7.29 8.72 9.14 8.88 10.88
Germany 2 ................. 7.98 7.31 7.42 10.38 13.13 14.07 13.68 16.84
Greece .................... 3.09 3.07 3.00 3.31 3.73 4.25 4.50 5.50
Ireland ................... 4.85 4.74 5.00 6.76 7.86 8.43 8.12 9.89
Italy ..................... 5.43 5.20 5.38 7.33 9.10 9.73 9.78 11.85
Luxembourg ................ 6.94 6.63 6.63 9.17 11.28 11.97 11.74 14.17
Netherlands ............... 7.26 6.68 6.71 9.31 11.55 12.07 11.55 13.99
Norway .................... 8.33 8.15 8.36 10.66 13.51 14.78 14.75 17.36
Portugal .................. 1.24 1.10 1.16 1.57 1.91 2.10 2.25 2.86
Spain ..................... 3.40 3.35 3.51 4.71 5.75 6.45 6.74 8.54
Sweden .................... 6.27 6.46 6.79 8.73 10.56 11.75 12.18 14.66
Switzerland ............... 8.83 8.11 8.10 11.52 14.28 15.09 14.03 17.50
United Kingdom ............ 5.41 5.08 5.33 6.47 7.72 9.05 9.02 10.79
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 5.73 5.67 5.67 6.80 7.89 8.86 9.16 10.19
OECD 4 .................... 6.29 6.22 6.21 7.46 8.65 9.69 9.97 11.08
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 7.23 7.12 7.10 8.64 10.03 11.21 11.47 12.75
Europe .................... 6.41 6.01 6.16 8.31 10.24 11.07 10.85 13.25
European Union ............ 6.28 5.88 6.04 8.13 10.01 10.84 10.65 13.00
Asian NIEs ................ 1.30 1.41 1.47 1.58 1.89 2.34 2.95 3.36
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 5. Hourly direct pay in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. $12.21 $12.50 $12.80 $13.14 $13.47 $13.91 $14.34
Canada .................... 14.64 14.36 13.74 13.19 13.31 13.83 13.74
Mexico .................... 1.63 1.93 2.13 2.18 1.33 1.36 1.55
Australia ................. 11.38 10.95 10.42 11.70 12.56 13.79 13.35
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.46 3.79 4.15 4.46 4.66 4.97 5.25
Israel .................... 7.26 7.50 7.28 7.58 8.70 9.07 9.94
Japan ..................... 12.67 14.09 16.47 18.25 20.31 17.83 16.52
Korea ..................... 3.93 4.35 4.71 5.32 6.13 6.81 6.08
New Zealand ............... 7.86 7.44 7.53 8.40 9.51 10.37 10.36
Singapore ................. 3.71 4.19 4.44 5.28 6.12 6.93 6.87
Sri Lanka ................. .34 .34 .36 .39 .41 .41 -
Taiwan .................... 4.04 4.71 4.80 5.09 5.38 5.39 5.35
Austria ................... 13.31 14.87 14.63 15.54 18.25 17.86 15.87
Belgium ................... 14.33 15.91 15.40 16.55 19.12 18.57 16.38
Denmark ................... 17.74 19.46 18.44 19.44 22.92 22.96 20.94
Finland ................... 16.26 15.38 12.36 14.11 18.37 18.16 16.53
France .................... 10.92 12.08 11.55 12.07 13.74 13.74 12.36
Germany 2 ................. 17.40 19.43 19.48 20.42 24.16 23.76 20.94
Greece .................... 5.63 6.13 5.63 6.01 7.13 7.46 -
Ireland ................... 10.12 11.18 10.17 10.59 11.60 11.84 11.62
Italy ..................... 12.56 13.38 10.93 10.98 11.19 12.19 11.46
Luxembourg ................ 14.56 16.25 15.91 17.26 20.14 19.45 -
Netherlands ............... 14.03 15.59 15.42 16.03 18.42 17.87 15.96
Norway .................... 17.60 18.77 16.80 17.43 20.25 20.79 19.62
Portugal .................. 3.22 3.92 3.42 3.50 4.11 4.27 4.05
Spain ..................... 9.19 10.08 8.57 8.51 9.56 10.03 9.04
Sweden .................... 15.30 16.89 12.78 13.50 15.36 17.42 15.93
Switzerland ............... 18.12 19.38 18.88 20.79 24.27 23.47 20.03
United Kingdom ............ 11.47 12.19 10.67 11.15 11.90 12.30 13.47
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 10.96 11.64 11.73 12.25 13.31 13.06 12.39
OECD 4 .................... 11.90 12.61 12.69 13.22 14.36 14.03 13.26
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 13.65 14.43 14.47 15.06 16.47 16.04 15.15
Europe .................... 13.71 15.01 14.06 14.74 16.80 16.86 15.54
European Union ............ 13.45 14.76 13.80 14.43 16.41 16.50 15.28
Asian NIEs ................ 3.85 4.36 4.60 5.09 5.62 6.02 5.84
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 6. Hourly direct pay in national currency for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 5.30 5.73 6.24 6.77 7.35 7.98 8.77 9.32
Canada .................... 5.52 6.30 7.00 7.53 8.21 9.05 10.16 11.37
Mexico .................... 17 21 27 33 39 46 62 99
Australia ................. 3.74 4.43 4.91 5.30 5.79 6.44 7.33 8.44
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.61 4.15 4.66 5.36 6.36 7.26 8.38 9.73
Israel .................... 1.19 1.56 2.32 3.70 6.94 16.03 39.38 88.82
Japan ..................... 801 860 940 995 1037 1103 1180 1227
Korea ..................... 141 183 245 333 439 526 623 715
New Zealand ............... 2.49 2.85 3.27 3.76 4.33 5.15 6.16 7.04
Singapore ................. 1.72 1.82 1.91 2.03 2.26 2.53 3.02 3.32
Sri Lanka ................. 1.79 1.85 2.61 3.74 3.21 3.25 3.40 4.27
Taiwan .................... 14.18 16.23 18.67 21.35 26.61 33.77 41.56 45.25
Austria ................... 61.46 67.00 73.07 77.58 81.95 87.95 94.06 100.26
Belgium ................... 181.40 206.63 230.08 246.82 267.41 294.14 325.25 346.36
Denmark ................... 34.65 38.47 41.69 47.29 53.04 58.31 63.90 70.67
Finland ................... 13.39 15.70 17.34 18.78 21.09 23.98 27.23 30.34
France .................... 14.36 16.50 18.80 21.11 23.78 27.42 31.47 37.06
Germany 2 ................. 12.48 13.37 14.45 15.27 16.26 17.57 18.60 19.64
Greece .................... 46 59 70 87 104 133 169 228
Ireland ................... 1.21 1.40 1.58 1.83 2.12 2.54 3.00 3.44
Italy ..................... 2050 2401 3008 3407 4037 4918 6123 7121
Luxembourg ................ 205 230 246 264 278 299 311 334
Netherlands ............... 12.76 13.93 15.05 16.42 17.37 18.17 18.75 20.02
Norway .................... 29.07 33.69 37.40 40.81 41.86 46.02 50.64 55.89
Portugal .................. 32.52 40.52 47.83 56.75 64.90 80.81 98.06 116.72
Spain ..................... 101 133 173 218 265 313 378 432
Sweden .................... 23.09 27.07 28.99 32.05 35.56 38.43 42.91 45.65
Switzerland ............... 13.33 13.64 13.93 14.38 14.80 15.65 16.76 17.89
United Kingdom ............ 1.34 1.55 1.69 1.94 2.23 2.67 2.96 3.28
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 6. Hourly direct pay in national currency for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 9.69 10.04 10.43 10.65 10.83 11.12 11.41 11.80
Canada .................... 12.06 12.66 13.09 13.46 13.92 14.46 15.23 16.02
Mexico .................... 150 233 365 597 1287 2550 3141 3956
Australia ................. 8.88 9.61 9.99 10.78 11.43 12.26 13.28 14.07
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 10.61 11.95 13.03 14.17 15.78 18.13 21.08 24.10
Israel .................... 226 1126 3.95 6.39 8.35 10.13 12.16 14.23
Japan ..................... 1257 1298 1322 1355 1359 1408 1500 1605
Korea ..................... 804 874 970 1040 1179 1457 1891 2301
New Zealand ............... 7.30 7.57 8.44 9.85 10.74 11.74 12.36 13.14
Singapore ................. 3.66 4.05 4.23 4.21 4.41 4.81 5.40 5.89
Sri Lanka ................. 4.98 5.55 6.49 6.96 7.56 8.41 9.52 12.03
Taiwan .................... 48.27 52.70 55.70 60.53 66.60 74.34 86.03 97.85
Austria ................... 105.34 109.28 115.71 120.92 127.24 131.86 138.05 148.16
Belgium ................... 365.66 385.90 401.26 407.47 416.65 425.80 444.18 466.01
Denmark ................... 74.71 78.19 81.39 85.64 94.19 100.40 104.22 108.73
Finland ................... 33.41 36.94 39.96 42.81 46.15 50.47 55.31 60.98
France .................... 41.69 44.92 47.86 50.52 52.45 54.46 56.66 59.26
Germany 2 ................. 20.37 20.79 21.84 22.52 23.60 24.71 25.72 27.24
Greece .................... 272 346 414 464 504 603 731 873
Ireland ................... 3.89 4.36 4.69 5.04 5.28 5.53 5.73 5.97
Italy ..................... 8243 9139 10268 10931 11797 12663 13423 14200
Luxembourg ................ 355 383 393 410 421 440 463 473
Netherlands ............... 20.72 21.44 22.25 22.80 23.40 23.87 24.51 25.49
Norway .................... 60.82 66.47 71.85 78.85 91.08 96.39 101.98 108.55
Portugal .................. 138.74 162.43 198.92 235.10 269.59 302.62 354.64 408.28
Spain ..................... 488 539 597 659 710 751 798 871
Sweden .................... 48.09 53.46 58.41 62.21 67.04 72.11 78.63 86.80
Switzerland ............... 18.56 19.06 19.90 20.72 21.31 22.10 22.97 24.32
United Kingdom ............ 3.57 3.80 4.11 4.41 4.71 5.08 5.51 6.05
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 6. Hourly direct pay in national currency for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 12.21 12.50 12.80 13.14 13.47 13.91 14.34
Canada .................... 16.78 17.36 17.73 18.02 18.28 18.87 19.02
Mexico .................... 4926 5967 6.63 7.37 8.55 10.35 12.29
Australia ................. 14.61 14.89 15.33 15.99 16.96 17.60 17.96
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 26.91 29.33 32.11 34.50 36.09 38.45 40.63
Israel .................... 16.53 18.45 20.60 22.83 26.19 29.82 34.29
Japan ..................... 1705 1787 1830 1865 1909 1940 1999
Korea ..................... 2882 3396 3779 4276 4731 5478 5777
New Zealand ............... 13.59 13.82 13.90 14.16 14.49 15.08 15.63
Singapore ................. 6.41 6.82 7.18 8.06 8.67 9.78 10.21
Sri Lanka ................. 14.20 15.00 17.31 19.12 20.95 22.70 -
Taiwan .................... 108.02 118.54 126.85 134.67 142.57 148.06 154.07
Austria ................... 155.62 163.46 170.32 177.33 183.94 189.15 193.81
Belgium ................... 489.98 511.41 532.38 553.31 563.54 575.23 586.60
Denmark ................... 113.62 117.49 119.62 123.56 128.33 133.18 138.37
Finland ................... 65.88 69.02 70.78 73.84 80.40 83.45 85.89
France .................... 61.68 63.93 65.48 66.93 68.51 70.29 72.19
Germany 2 ................. 28.90 30.36 32.25 33.12 34.60 35.76 36.33
Greece .................... 1027 1168 1290 1459 1652 1796 -
Ireland ................... 6.27 6.56 6.94 7.08 7.23 7.40 7.66
Italy ..................... 15584 16488 17186 17696 18229 18811 19520
Luxembourg ................ 497 522 551 578 594 602 -
Netherlands ............... 26.27 27.42 28.65 29.16 29.55 30.13 31.17
Norway .................... 114.24 116.66 119.27 122.96 128.30 134.30 139.06
Portugal .................. 466.33 529.44 551.52 581.18 615.89 658.80 710.27
Spain ..................... 956 1032 1093 1140 1191 1271 1325
Sweden .................... 92.60 98.39 99.66 104.15 109.68 116.84 121.80
Switzerland ............... 26.02 27.25 27.91 28.41 28.66 29.01 29.07
United Kingdom ............ 6.49 6.90 7.11 7.28 7.54 7.88 8.22
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 7. Indexes of pay for time worked for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 101 110 104 95 93 95 94 96
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 90 92 85 87 85 89 93 89
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 37 37 41 52 47 45 45 39
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 54 47 48 55 57 60 58 54
Singapore ................. 13 12 12 12 13 14 15 15
Sri Lanka ................. 4 3 4 3 2 2 2 2
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 50 49 54 59 63 64 51 47
Belgium ................... 80 78 85 94 101 102 80 65
Denmark ................... 111 108 108 123 133 125 98 86
Finland ................... 66 67 64 62 72 73 64 60
France .................... 56 54 55 61 67 72 59 52
Germany 2 ................. 80 77 83 93 99 99 76 70
Greece .................... 22 24 26 29 32 33 29 31
Ireland ................... 51 44 44 51 58 64 54 51
Italy ..................... 48 41 45 49 56 61 52 47
Luxembourg ................ 92 93 100 115 118 117 86 71
Netherlands ............... 80 79 84 94 97 96 73 69
Norway .................... 100 104 108 109 106 111 95 88
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 102 106 101 100 105 106 90 73
Switzerland ............... 86 84 82 105 106 102 85 82
United Kingdom ............ 55 48 46 53 62 75 66 59
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 7. Indexes of pay for time worked for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 98 94 89 88 94 102 109 112
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 80 81 65 66 71 83 88 89
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 40 40 39 56 65 73 70 68
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 48 41 38 46 56 66 61 63
Singapore ................. 16 17 16 16 18 19 21 24
Sri Lanka ................. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 45 41 40 56 69 72 68 82
Belgium ................... 59 53 51 68 82 82 78 94
Denmark ................... 80 71 70 94 120 127 118 140
Finland ................... 55 54 54 69 84 93 96 115
France .................... 49 44 44 58 68 69 65 77
Germany 2 ................. 66 58 57 78 97 101 96 113
Greece .................... 27 25 24 26 29 32 33 39
Ireland ................... 48 45 46 61 70 73 69 81
Italy ..................... 47 43 43 57 69 71 69 81
Luxembourg ................ 65 59 57 77 92 95 91 106
Netherlands ............... 64 55 53 72 87 89 82 96
Norway .................... 81 76 75 94 117 124 120 136
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 61 60 60 75 90 97 98 114
Switzerland ............... 79 69 67 93 113 116 105 126
United Kingdom ............ 53 48 49 58 67 77 74 86
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 7. Indexes of pay for time worked for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
(Index, U.S. = 100)
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Canada .................... 116 111 104 97 95 96 92
Mexico .................... - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 90 84 78 85 89 95 89
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 75 82 94 103 111 95 85
Korea ..................... - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 61 56 56 60 67 70 68
Singapore ................. 26 29 30 34 38 42 40
Sri Lanka ................. 2 2 2 3 3 3 -
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 82 90 87 90 104 98 85
Belgium ................... 94 102 96 101 114 107 91
Denmark ................... 137 147 136 139 160 155 137
Finland ................... 112 102 80 89 112 107 95
France .................... 75 81 75 76 85 82 72
Germany 2 ................. 113 124 122 125 143 137 117
Greece .................... 38 40 36 37 43 44 -
Ireland ................... 80 87 77 78 83 82 78
Italy ..................... 83 86 69 67 67 71 64
Luxembourg ................ 106 115 110 116 132 124 -
Netherlands ............... 93 101 98 100 111 105 91
Norway .................... 134 140 123 124 140 138 127
Portugal .................. - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 114 121 91 93 104 114 101
Switzerland ............... 127 132 126 135 153 144 119
United Kingdom ............ 89 92 79 80 83 83 88
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 8. Pay for time worked in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. $4.83 $5.22 $5.68 $6.17 $6.70 $7.27 $7.99 $8.49
Canada .................... 4.88 5.73 5.89 5.89 6.23 6.88 7.51 8.15
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 4.35 4.79 4.80 5.34 5.70 6.46 7.43 7.56
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 1.79 1.94 2.35 3.22 3.18 3.27 3.56 3.29
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 2.62 2.45 2.75 3.38 3.84 4.35 4.65 4.59
Singapore ................. .62 .62 .66 .75 .87 .99 1.18 1.28
Sri Lanka ................. .20 .17 .23 .19 .16 .15 .14 .16
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 2.43 2.58 3.04 3.67 4.22 4.64 4.05 4.01
Belgium ................... 3.84 4.09 4.83 5.83 6.74 7.41 6.43 5.54
Denmark ................... 5.34 5.63 6.15 7.61 8.94 9.12 7.80 7.34
Finland ................... 3.17 3.48 3.64 3.82 4.85 5.31 5.15 5.11
France .................... 2.71 2.80 3.10 3.79 4.51 5.23 4.68 4.45
Germany 2 ................. 3.88 4.04 4.72 5.74 6.63 7.17 6.06 5.93
Greece .................... 1.08 1.23 1.47 1.82 2.16 2.39 2.35 2.60
Ireland ................... 2.44 2.29 2.50 3.17 3.89 4.67 4.31 4.33
Italy ..................... 2.34 2.16 2.55 3.05 3.72 4.43 4.14 4.02
Luxembourg ................ 4.43 4.84 5.69 7.08 7.91 8.48 6.89 6.02
Netherlands ............... 3.88 4.10 4.77 5.77 6.53 6.95 5.80 5.82
Norway .................... 4.85 5.41 6.14 6.74 7.11 8.04 7.63 7.47
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 4.94 5.53 5.75 6.19 7.02 7.73 7.20 6.22
Switzerland ............... 4.16 4.39 4.67 6.48 7.12 7.44 6.78 6.95
United Kingdom ............ 2.66 2.49 2.62 3.30 4.18 5.45 5.25 4.99
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 8. Pay for time worked in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. $8.83 $9.19 $9.54 $9.73 $9.91 $10.19 $10.48 $10.83
Canada .................... 8.66 8.63 8.48 8.58 9.30 10.41 11.39 12.16
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 7.05 7.45 6.16 6.38 7.06 8.47 9.26 9.68
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 3.57 3.70 3.76 5.47 6.42 7.47 7.30 7.39
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 4.24 3.80 3.65 4.49 5.53 6.68 6.37 6.80
Singapore ................. 1.42 1.56 1.57 1.59 1.74 1.95 2.21 2.59
Sri Lanka ................. .17 .17 .19 .20 .20 .21 .21 .24
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 4.00 3.74 3.81 5.42 6.88 7.30 7.15 8.90
Belgium ................... 5.24 4.86 4.91 6.62 8.08 8.37 8.18 10.16
Denmark ................... 7.07 6.54 6.65 9.16 11.92 12.91 12.32 15.20
Finland ................... 4.84 4.95 5.18 6.70 8.28 9.48 10.11 12.44
France .................... 4.30 4.04 4.16 5.65 6.72 6.99 6.79 8.32
Germany 2 ................. 5.84 5.35 5.44 7.59 9.61 10.29 10.02 12.22
Greece .................... 2.36 2.32 2.27 2.53 2.87 3.24 3.41 4.17
Ireland ................... 4.28 4.16 4.39 5.94 6.92 7.43 7.18 8.75
Italy ..................... 4.15 3.98 4.07 5.51 6.82 7.26 7.28 8.81
Luxembourg ................ 5.71 5.45 5.42 7.48 9.16 9.68 9.52 11.49
Netherlands ............... 5.62 5.09 5.02 6.96 8.60 9.02 8.62 10.38
Norway .................... 7.18 6.96 7.12 9.11 11.59 12.67 12.59 14.73
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 5.41 5.49 5.73 7.34 8.89 9.91 10.27 12.36
Switzerland ............... 6.95 6.37 6.35 9.01 11.17 11.80 10.97 13.68
United Kingdom ............ 4.70 4.41 4.63 5.61 6.68 7.81 7.79 9.31
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 8. Pay for time worked in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. $11.18 $11.46 $11.74 $12.07 $12.37 $12.77 $13.17
Canada .................... 12.97 12.72 12.17 11.68 11.79 12.25 12.17
Mexico .................... - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 10.02 9.65 9.18 10.31 11.07 12.15 11.76
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 8.44 9.41 11.05 12.40 13.77 12.11 11.17
Korea ..................... - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 6.82 6.46 6.53 7.29 8.25 9.00 8.99
Singapore ................. 2.92 3.30 3.48 4.11 4.73 5.33 5.28
Sri Lanka ................. .27 .27 .28 .31 0.32 0.32 -
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 9.16 10.33 10.22 10.88 12.81 12.55 11.15
Belgium ................... 10.49 11.69 11.31 12.16 14.05 13.65 12.04
Denmark ................... 15.35 16.82 15.94 16.80 19.81 19.85 18.10
Finland ................... 12.51 11.64 9.37 10.70 13.91 13.70 12.47
France .................... 8.36 9.24 8.84 9.23 10.51 10.51 9.46
Germany 2 ................. 12.63 14.25 14.31 15.05 17.75 17.45 15.38
Greece .................... 4.23 4.61 4.23 4.52 5.36 5.61 -
Ireland ................... 8.97 9.94 9.04 9.42 10.31 10.53 10.33
Italy ..................... 9.31 9.90 8.08 8.10 8.29 9.03 8.49
Luxembourg ................ 11.83 13.22 12.95 14.05 16.38 15.83 -
Netherlands ............... 10.45 11.63 11.46 12.05 13.78 13.39 11.96
Norway .................... 14.94 16.07 14.45 14.99 17.26 17.65 16.73
Portugal .................. - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 12.75 13.85 10.69 11.25 12.81 14.54 13.30
Switzerland ............... 14.17 15.16 14.76 16.25 18.98 18.35 15.66
United Kingdom ............ 9.91 10.53 9.22 9.63 10.28 10.63 11.64
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 9. Pay for time worked in national currency for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 4.83 5.22 5.68 6.17 6.70 7.27 7.99 8.49
Canada .................... 4.96 5.65 6.26 6.71 7.30 8.04 9.00 10.06
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 3.33 3.92 4.33 4.67 5.10 5.67 6.46 7.44
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 531 575 631 671 695 737 783 819
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 2.16 2.47 2.84 3.26 3.76 4.47 5.35 6.11
Singapore ................. 1.46 1.53 1.60 1.71 1.89 2.13 2.50 2.73
Sri Lanka ................. 1.41 1.46 2.06 2.95 2.53 2.56 2.68 3.37
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 42.34 46.24 50.32 53.22 56.47 60.02 64.39 68.49
Belgium ................... 140.95 157.61 173.12 183.37 197.64 216.44 238.28 253.74
Denmark ................... 30.64 34.04 36.93 41.92 47.02 51.33 55.42 61.24
Finland ................... 11.62 13.41 14.60 15.69 17.49 19.74 22.25 24.59
France .................... 11.60 13.37 15.22 17.08 19.21 22.08 25.30 29.30
Germany 2 ................. 9.52 10.17 10.95 11.52 12.15 13.01 13.65 14.41
Greece .................... 35 45 54 67 80 102 130 174
Ireland ................... 1.10 1.27 1.43 1.65 1.90 2.27 2.67 3.05
Italy ..................... 1524 1793 2253 2585 3089 3792 4685 5448
Luxembourg ................ 163 187 204 223 232 248 256 275
Netherlands ............... 9.80 10.84 11.70 12.47 13.09 13.80 14.42 15.54
Norway .................... 25.30 29.50 32.69 35.30 36.02 39.67 43.69 48.26
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 20.45 24.08 25.70 27.94 30.11 32.68 36.24 39.08
Switzerland ............... 10.74 10.96 11.18 11.51 11.83 12.47 13.29 14.14
United Kingdom ............ 1.20 1.38 1.50 1.72 1.97 2.34 2.59 2.86
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 9. Pay for time worked in national currency for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 8.83 9.19 9.54 9.73 9.91 10.19 10.48 10.83
Canada .................... 10.67 11.17 11.59 11.92 12.33 12.81 13.49 14.19
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 7.82 8.47 8.80 9.50 10.07 10.80 11.70 12.40
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 847 878 897 921 928 958 1009 1072
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 6.34 6.57 7.33 8.55 9.32 10.19 10.73 11.41
Singapore ................. 3.01 3.32 3.46 3.47 3.66 3.92 4.30 4.69
Sri Lanka ................. 3.93 4.38 5.12 5.49 5.96 6.63 7.51 9.49
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 71.88 74.77 78.81 82.64 87.05 90.27 94.60 100.84
Belgium ................... 267.88 280.86 291.40 295.48 301.70 307.88 322.34 339.66
Denmark ................... 64.68 67.64 70.47 74.15 81.62 87.00 90.23 94.06
Finland ................... 26.94 29.72 32.10 34.00 36.48 39.74 43.45 47.64
France .................... 32.80 35.26 37.33 39.16 40.41 41.67 43.35 45.34
Germany 2 ................. 14.91 15.22 16.00 16.48 17.28 18.08 18.85 19.76
Greece .................... 208 262 314 354 388 460 554 661
Ireland ................... 3.43 3.83 4.12 4.43 4.65 4.87 5.06 5.28
Italy ..................... 6302 6987 7767 8219 8843 9450 9995 10550
Luxembourg ................ 292 315 322 334 342 356 375 384
Netherlands ............... 16.05 16.34 16.67 17.04 17.42 17.84 18.29 18.92
Norway .................... 52.43 56.81 61.20 67.39 78.11 82.67 87.01 92.15
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 41.53 45.38 49.33 52.32 56.43 60.80 66.30 73.19
Switzerland ............... 14.60 14.97 15.58 16.20 16.66 17.28 17.96 19.02
United Kingdom ............ 3.10 3.30 3.57 3.82 4.08 4.39 4.75 5.22
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 9. Pay for time worked in national currency for production workers in manufacturing,
29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 11.18 11.46 11.74 12.07 12.37 12.77 13.17
Canada .................... 14.86 15.38 15.70 15.96 16.19 16.71 16.85
Mexico .................... - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 12.87 13.12 13.51 14.09 14.94 15.51 15.82
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 1136 1194 1228 1267 1294 1318 1351
Korea ..................... - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 11.80 12.00 12.07 12.29 12.58 13.09 13.57
Singapore ................. 5.04 5.38 5.62 6.28 6.70 7.52 7.85
Sri Lanka ................. 11.20 11.83 13.65 15.08 16.52 17.9 -
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 107.12 113.58 118.96 124.12 129.11 132.86 136.13
Belgium ................... 358.70 375.76 391.17 406.55 414.06 422.65 431.01
Denmark ................... 98.29 101.55 103.39 106.79 110.92 115.11 119.59
Finland ................... 50.68 52.25 53.66 55.98 60.86 62.93 64.77
France .................... 47.19 48.91 50.10 51.21 52.42 53.78 55.23
Germany 2 ................. 20.97 22.26 23.68 24.42 25.41 26.26 26.68
Greece .................... 772 878 970 1097 1242 1350 -
Ireland ................... 5.56 5.83 6.17 6.29 6.43 6.58 6.81
Italy ..................... 11552 12195 12702 13050 13503 13934 14459
Luxembourg ................ 404 425 448 470 483 490 -
Netherlands ............... 19.56 20.46 21.30 21.91 22.10 22.57 23.35
Norway .................... 96.98 99.88 102.55 105.73 109.38 114.01 118.55
Portugal .................. - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 77.17 80.71 83.33 86.79 91.48 97.53 101.67
Switzerland ............... 20.35 21.31 21.82 22.22 22.41 22.69 22.73
United Kingdom ............ 5.61 5.96 6.14 6.29 6.51 6.81 7.10
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 10. Total direct pay as percent of total hourly compensation costs for production
workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 83.3 82.8 82.2 81.7 81.3 80.9 80.6 79.8
Canada .................... 90.9 90.5 89.7 89.0 89.1 89.4 88.7 88.3
Mexico .................... 92.3 89.2 91.2 90.3 91.4 89.7 89.7 89.2
Australia ................. 87.0 86.8 86.7 86.6 86.7 86.6 86.0 86.0
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 96.7 96.9 96.7 96.7 96.8 96.8 96.7 96.7
Israel .................... 82.5 82.3 82.4 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5
Japan ..................... 90.1 89.3 88.6 87.6 88.0 88.6 88.2 87.9
Korea ..................... 89.9 90.2 90.3 90.1 90.2 90.2 90.2 90.2
New Zealand ............... 93.9 93.9 94.0 94.1 94.0 94.0 94.1 94.1
Singapore ................. 85.9 85.6 86.0 85.0 82.4 79.1 79.4 79.0
Sri Lanka ................. 90.8 90.7 90.7 90.6 90.6 90.7 85.6 85.6
Taiwan .................... 93.5 93.4 93.4 93.5 93.5 93.5 93.5 93.5
Austria ................... 78.3 78.1 77.9 77.4 77.0 76.6 76.1 75.6
Belgium ................... 77.2 77.6 77.4 77.4 77.1 76.8 77.7 79.7
Denmark ................... 96.3 96.0 95.8 95.6 95.8 95.6 95.6 95.5
Finland ................... 79.3 78.6 77.4 77.7 77.9 78.3 78.5 78.6
France .................... 74.3 73.5 73.4 73.0 72.7 72.7 72.5 71.7
Germany 2 ................. 80.6 79.5 79.8 79.5 79.1 79.0 79.0 78.7
Greece .................... 82.7 83.6 83.6 83.0 83.2 83.4 83.3 82.9
Ireland ................... 89.1 88.8 88.4 88.5 89.4 87.9 86.7 85.7
Italy ..................... 67.3 66.6 68.3 68.8 68.9 70.6 71.5 70.7
Luxembourg ................ 85.7 85.1 85.0 85.3 85.3 85.0 84.9 84.8
Netherlands ............... 76.9 76.5 76.4 76.2 75.9 75.9 76.1 76.6
Norway .................... 82.4 82.1 82.1 81.9 80.4 80.4 80.3 79.9
Portugal .................. 80.8 80.8 79.5 79.4 78.9 78.2 78.2 77.5
Spain ..................... 69.7 69.6 72.4 73.4 74.4 74.2 74.0 74.4
Sweden .................... 77.7 75.3 73.1 73.5 73.2 72.6 72.2 72.1
Switzerland ............... 84.8 84.6 84.4 84.4 84.2 84.3 84.3 84.4
United Kingdom ............ 88.4 87.3 85.4 84.5 83.3 82.0 82.1 82.8
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 86.2 85.8 85.2 84.5 84.1 84.1 84.4 84.4
OECD 4 .................... 86.1 85.8 85.1 84.3 84.0 84.0 84.3 84.2
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 85.9 85.6 84.9 84.1 83.8 83.8 84.1 84.1
Europe .................... 79.2 78.4 78.3 78.2 77.8 77.8 77.9 77.9
European Union ............ 78.8 78.0 77.9 77.8 77.5 77.4 77.5 77.5
Asian NIEs ................ 90.9 91.8 91.5 91.4 90.7 90.1 89.6 89.4
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 10. Total direct pay as percent of total hourly compensation costs for production
workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 79.8 80.0 80.1 80.3 80.1 79.9 79.7 79.2
Canada .................... 87.9 87.7 87.6 87.3 87.2 87.1 87.1 86.6
Mexico .................... 88.2 89.0 89.2 89.4 89.6 90.0 89.5 89.1
Australia ................. 86.0 86.0 85.4 84.7 84.7 84.7 84.7 84.1
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 96.7 96.8 96.8 96.8 96.7 96.7 96.8 96.8
Israel .................... 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.6 82.5
Japan ..................... 87.8 87.7 87.4 87.3 87.1 86.9 86.7 86.5
Korea ..................... 90.2 90.2 90.3 90.2 89.9 90.5 88.9 87.7
New Zealand ............... 94.0 94.0 94.0 94.1 94.0 94.1 94.1 94.0
Singapore ................. 78.3 77.2 77.9 86.5 90.6 89.6 87.8 86.0
Sri Lanka ................. 85.6 85.7 85.6 85.6 85.7 85.7 85.7 85.6
Taiwan .................... 93.5 93.5 93.5 92.6 92.6 92.6 92.6 92.6
Austria ................... 75.1 74.3 73.8 73.9 73.6 73.5 73.6 73.7
Belgium ................... 78.8 77.5 75.4 73.4 73.1 73.2 72.8 72.7
Denmark ................... 94.0 94.1 94.4 95.5 94.1 98.0 98.0 97.4
Finland ................... 79.6 79.3 79.0 78.8 78.0 76.7 76.4 75.7
France .................... 70.6 70.5 70.9 70.9 71.0 70.6 70.2 70.2
Germany 2 ................. 78.3 78.0 77.9 77.8 77.6 77.5 77.4 77.0
Greece .................... 81.8 82.0 81.9 81.4 80.7 81.3 82.0 81.5
Ireland ................... 85.7 84.9 84.5 84.2 84.5 84.3 84.5 84.9
Italy ..................... 70.4 70.9 70.5 70.0 69.8 69.6 68.0 67.9
Luxembourg ................ 85.1 85.2 84.8 84.5 84.5 84.1 84.3 84.7
Netherlands ............... 76.5 76.8 76.6 76.2 76.3 76.2 77.0 77.5
Norway .................... 80.7 80.9 80.6 80.5 80.5 80.1 80.7 80.9
Portugal .................. 76.6 75.9 75.5 75.6 75.7 75.5 75.9 75.9
Spain ..................... 74.6 75.0 75.4 75.4 75.4 75.3 75.2 75.0
Sweden .................... 70.5 70.5 70.3 70.2 69.8 69.8 69.5 70.0
Switzerland ............... 84.4 84.1 83.9 83.8 83.6 83.8 83.9 83.9
United Kingdom ............ 83.3 84.1 84.9 84.4 85.0 85.4 85.4 84.9
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 84.2 84.3 84.1 83.4 83.1 83.2 83.3 82.7
OECD 4 .................... 84.1 84.2 83.9 83.2 82.9 83.0 83.0 82.4
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 84.0 84.0 83.8 83.1 82.7 82.8 82.8 82.2
Europe .................... 77.6 77.5 77.4 76.9 76.9 77.0 76.7 76.6
European Union ............ 77.1 77.0 77.0 76.5 76.4 76.5 76.3 76.1
Asian NIEs ................ 88.7 88.4 88.7 91.2 92.2 92.0 91.3 90.4
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 10. Total direct pay as percent of total hourly compensation costs for production
workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 78.4 77.7 77.5 77.9 78.4 78.6 78.6
Canada .................... 85.3 84.3 83.6 83.2 83.0 83.0 83.0
Mexico .................... 88.9 88.9 88.6 88.4 88.2 88.6 88.7
Australia ................. 84.1 84.1 83.5 83.5 83.4 83.5 83.4
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 96.7 96.8 96.8 96.8 96.7 96.8 96.8
Israel .................... 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5 82.5
Japan ..................... 86.3 86.0 85.7 85.5 85.3 85.3 85.3
Korea ..................... 85.2 83.3 83.4 83.2 84.2 84.2 84.2
New Zealand ............... 94.0 94.0 94.0 94.0 94.0 94.0 94.1
Singapore ................. 85.4 84.5 84.5 83.8 83.4 83.3 83.3
Sri Lanka ................. 85.7 85.7 85.7 85.7 85.7 85.7 -
Taiwan .................... 92.6 92.6 91.7 91.7 90.9 90.9 90.9
Austria ................... 73.6 73.3 72.6 72.3 72.4 72.4 72.4
Belgium ................... 72.5 72.1 71.8 71.7 71.7 71.7 71.8
Denmark ................... 96.5 96.3 96.5 95.8 95.2 95.2 95.1
Finland ................... 76.5 77.2 74.4 74.0 76.1 77.1 77.1
France .................... 69.8 69.2 68.8 68.5 68.7 69.0 68.8
Germany 2 ................. 76.9 76.6 77.0 75.6 75.0 74.7 74.0
Greece .................... 81.1 80.6 77.8 77.8 77.8 77.8 -
Ireland ................... 85.0 85.2 85.5 85.5 85.5 85.5 85.6
Italy ..................... 68.5 69.2 69.1 69.1 69.1 68.8 68.4
Luxembourg ................ 85.0 85.1 85.0 84.9 86.3 86.3 -
Netherlands ............... 77.4 77.6 76.8 77.1 76.7 77.4 77.4
Norway .................... 81.4 81.5 83.1 83.1 83.1 83.0 82.7
Portugal .................. 75.9 75.9 76.2 76.2 76.6 76.6 76.6
Spain ..................... 74.8 74.6 73.8 73.8 74.3 74.2 74.4
Sweden .................... 69.1 68.7 72.7 72.5 71.6 71.5 71.7
Switzerland ............... 83.6 83.4 83.4 83.4 82.8 82.8 82.8
United Kingdom ............ 83.6 84.8 85.9 87.1 87.1 87.1 87.1
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 82.3 81.8 81.9 81.6 81.3 81.2 81.3
OECD 4 .................... 81.9 81.4 81.6 81.3 80.9 80.8 80.9
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 81.8 81.3 81.4 81.1 80.8 80.6 80.7
Europe .................... 76.3 76.3 76.6 76.2 76.0 76.0 76.0
European Union ............ 75.8 75.8 76.1 75.7 75.5 75.5 75.5
Asian NIEs ................ 89.5 88.8 88.5 88.1 87.8 87.6 87.8
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 11. Pay for time worked as percent of total hourly compensation costs for production
workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 75.9 75.4 74.8 74.5 74.1 73.7 73.5 72.7
Canada .................... 81.7 81.2 80.2 79.3 79.3 79.4 78.6 78.1
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 77.4 76.9 76.4 76.3 76.3 76.3 75.7 75.8
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 59.7 59.7 59.5 59.1 58.9 59.2 58.5 58.7
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 81.5 81.5 81.6 81.7 81.6 81.6 81.7 81.7
Singapore ................. 73.0 71.8 72.1 71.5 69.0 66.6 65.8 65.0
Sri Lanka ................. 71.6 71.6 71.5 71.4 71.5 71.5 67.5 67.5
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 54.0 53.9 53.7 53.1 53.1 52.3 52.1 51.6
Belgium ................... 60.0 59.2 58.3 57.5 57.0 56.5 56.9 58.4
Denmark ................... 85.1 85.0 84.9 84.7 84.9 84.2 82.9 82.8
Finland ................... 68.8 67.1 65.2 64.9 64.6 64.4 64.1 63.7
France .................... 60.0 59.6 59.4 59.0 58.7 58.5 58.3 56.7
Germany 2 ................. 61.5 60.4 60.5 60.0 59.1 58.5 58.0 57.7
Greece .................... 63.6 64.3 64.3 63.8 64.0 64.2 64.0 63.3
Ireland ................... 80.9 80.4 79.9 79.7 80.2 78.5 77.2 75.9
Italy ..................... 50.0 49.7 51.1 52.2 52.7 54.4 54.7 54.1
Luxembourg ................ 68.2 69.3 70.6 71.9 71.2 70.5 69.9 69.8
Netherlands ............... 59.1 59.5 59.4 57.8 57.2 57.7 58.5 59.4
Norway .................... 71.7 71.9 71.8 70.8 69.2 69.4 69.3 69.0
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 68.8 67.0 64.8 64.1 62.0 61.8 61.0 61.7
Switzerland ............... 68.3 68.0 67.8 67.5 67.4 67.1 66.9 66.7
United Kingdom ............ 78.7 77.6 75.7 74.9 73.4 72.1 71.8 72.1
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 11. Pay for time worked as percent of total hourly compensation costs for production
workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 72.7 73.2 73.3 73.4 73.3 73.3 73.2 72.6
Canada .................... 77.8 77.4 77.6 77.3 77.2 77.1 77.2 76.7
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 75.8 75.8 75.2 74.6 74.6 74.6 74.6 74.1
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 59.2 59.3 59.3 59.3 59.5 59.1 58.3 57.7
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 81.6 81.6 81.6 81.7 81.6 81.7 81.7 81.6
Singapore ................. 64.5 63.2 63.7 71.4 75.2 73.0 69.9 68.5
Sri Lanka ................. 67.5 67.6 67.5 67.5 67.6 67.6 67.6 67.5
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 51.2 50.8 50.3 50.5 50.3 50.3 50.5 50.2
Belgium ................... 57.7 56.4 54.7 53.2 52.9 52.9 52.8 53.0
Denmark ................... 81.4 81.4 81.8 82.7 81.6 85.0 84.8 84.2
Finland ................... 64.2 63.8 63.5 62.6 61.7 60.4 60.0 59.1
France .................... 55.6 55.3 55.3 55.0 54.7 54.0 53.7 53.7
Germany 2 ................. 57.3 57.1 57.0 56.9 56.8 56.7 56.7 55.9
Greece .................... 62.5 62.1 62.1 62.1 62.1 62.1 62.1 61.7
Ireland ................... 75.6 74.5 74.2 74.1 74.4 74.2 74.6 75.1
Italy ..................... 53.8 54.2 53.3 52.6 52.4 51.9 50.6 50.5
Luxembourg ................ 70.0 70.0 69.4 68.9 68.7 68.1 68.3 68.7
Netherlands ............... 59.2 58.5 57.4 57.0 56.8 57.0 57.5 57.5
Norway .................... 69.6 69.2 68.7 68.8 69.0 68.7 68.8 68.6
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 60.9 59.8 59.3 59.1 58.8 58.9 58.6 59.0
Switzerland ............... 66.4 66.1 65.7 65.5 65.4 65.5 65.6 65.6
United Kingdom ............ 72.4 73.1 73.7 73.2 73.6 73.7 73.7 73.3
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 11. Pay for time worked as percent of total hourly compensation costs for production
workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 71.8 71.2 71.1 71.5 72.0 72.1 72.2
Canada .................... 75.6 74.7 74.1 73.7 73.5 73.5 73.5
Mexico .................... - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 74.1 74.1 73.5 73.5 73.5 73.5 73.5
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 57.5 57.5 57.5 58.1 57.8 57.9 57.7
Korea ..................... - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 81.6 81.6 81.6 81.6 81.6 81.6 81.6
Singapore ................. 67.1 66.7 66.2 65.3 64.5 64.1 64.1
Sri Lanka ................. 67.6 67.6 67.6 67.6 67.6 67.6 -
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 50.7 50.9 50.7 50.6 50.8 50.9 50.9
Belgium ................... 53.1 53.0 52.8 52.7 52.7 52.7 52.7
Denmark ................... 83.5 83.3 83.4 82.8 82.3 82.3 82.2
Finland ................... 58.9 58.4 56.4 56.1 57.6 58.1 58.1
France .................... 53.4 52.9 52.7 52.4 52.5 52.8 52.6
Germany 2 ................. 55.8 56.2 56.5 55.7 55.1 54.9 54.4
Greece .................... 61.0 60.6 58.5 58.5 58.5 58.5 -
Ireland ................... 75.3 75.7 76.0 76.0 76.0 76.0 76.1
Italy ..................... 50.8 51.2 51.1 51.0 51.2 50.9 50.7
Luxembourg ................ 69.1 69.2 69.1 69.1 70.2 70.2 -
Netherlands ............... 57.6 57.9 57.1 57.9 57.4 58.0 58.0
Norway .................... 69.1 69.8 71.5 71.5 70.8 70.5 70.5
Portugal .................. - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 57.6 56.3 60.8 60.4 59.7 59.7 59.8
Switzerland ............... 65.3 65.2 65.2 65.2 64.8 64.8 64.8
United Kingdom ............ 72.2 73.3 74.2 75.2 75.2 75.2 75.3
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 12. Other direct pay as a percent of hourly compensation costs for production workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.1
Canada .................... 9.2 9.3 9.5 9.7 9.8 10.0 10.1 10.2
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 9.5 9.9 10.3 10.3 10.3 10.3 10.2 10.2
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 30.4 29.6 29.1 28.5 29.0 29.4 29.7 29.2
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4
Singapore ................. 12.9 13.8 13.9 13.5 13.5 12.6 13.6 14.0
Sri Lanka ................. 19.2 19.2 19.2 19.1 19.2 19.2 18.1 18.1
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 24.4 24.2 24.3 24.3 23.9 24.3 24.0 24.0
Belgium ................... 17.2 18.4 19.2 19.9 20.1 20.3 20.8 21.3
Denmark ................... 11.1 11.0 11.0 10.8 10.9 11.4 12.7 12.7
Finland ................... 10.5 11.5 12.3 12.8 13.3 13.9 14.4 14.9
France .................... 14.3 13.9 14.0 13.9 14.0 14.2 14.2 15.0
Germany 2 ................. 19.1 19.1 19.3 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.0
Greece .................... 19.1 19.3 19.3 19.1 19.2 19.2 19.2 19.6
Ireland ................... 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.8 9.2 9.3 9.5 9.8
Italy ..................... 17.3 16.9 17.1 16.6 16.2 16.2 16.8 16.6
Luxembourg ................ 17.5 15.8 14.4 13.4 14.2 14.5 15.0 15.0
Netherlands ............... 17.8 17.0 17.0 18.3 18.7 18.3 17.6 17.1
Norway .................... 10.7 10.2 10.3 11.0 11.2 11.1 11.0 10.9
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 8.9 8.3 8.3 9.4 11.2 10.9 11.2 10.4
Switzerland ............... 16.5 16.6 16.6 16.8 16.9 17.1 17.5 17.7
United Kingdom ............ 9.6 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.9 9.9 10.3 10.6
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 12. Other direct pay as a percent of hourly compensation costs for production workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 7.1 6.7 6.8 7.0 6.8 6.7 6.5 6.5
Canada .................... 10.1 10.3 10.0 10.0 10.0 9.9 10.0 9.9
Mexico .................... - - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.1 10.1 10.1 10.1 10.0
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 28.6 28.4 28.1 28.0 27.6 27.8 28.4 28.7
Korea ..................... - - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4
Singapore ................. 13.9 14.0 14.1 15.1 15.4 16.6 17.9 17.5
Sri Lanka ................. 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 23.9 23.5 23.5 23.4 23.2 23.2 23.2 23.5
Belgium ................... 21.1 21.1 20.6 20.2 20.2 20.3 20.0 19.7
Denmark ................... 12.6 12.7 12.7 12.8 12.6 13.1 13.1 13.1
Finland ................... 15.4 15.5 15.6 16.2 16.3 16.3 16.4 16.6
France .................... 15.1 15.2 15.6 15.9 16.3 16.6 16.5 16.5
Germany 2 ................. 21.0 20.9 20.8 20.9 20.8 20.8 20.7 21.1
Greece .................... 19.4 19.9 19.9 19.3 18.6 19.2 19.9 19.7
Ireland ................... 10.1 10.4 10.2 10.1 10.1 10.0 9.9 9.8
Italy ..................... 16.6 16.7 17.2 17.4 17.5 17.7 17.4 17.5
Luxembourg ................ 15.1 15.2 15.4 15.6 15.9 16.1 16.0 16.0
Netherlands ............... 17.2 18.3 19.2 19.3 19.5 19.3 19.5 20.0
Norway .................... 11.1 11.8 12.0 11.7 11.5 11.4 11.8 12.2
Portugal .................. - - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 9.6 10.6 10.9 11.2 11.1 11.0 10.9 11.0
Switzerland ............... 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.2 18.3 18.3 18.3
United Kingdom ............ 10.9 11.0 11.2 11.3 11.5 11.7 11.7 11.6
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 12. Other direct pay as a percent of hourly compensation costs for production workers
in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 6.6 6.5 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4
Canada .................... 9.8 9.6 9.6 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5
Mexico .................... - - - - - - -
Australia ................. 10.0 10.0 9.9 9.9 9.9 9.9 9.9
Hong Kong SAR 1............ - - - - - - -
Israel .................... - - - - - - -
Japan ..................... 28.8 28.6 28.2 27.4 27.5 27.4 27.6
Korea ..................... - - - - - - -
New Zealand ............... 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4
Singapore ................. 18.3 17.9 18.3 18.5 19.0 19.2 19.2
Sri Lanka ................. 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.1 -
Taiwan .................... - - - - - - -
Austria ................... 22.9 22.4 21.9 21.7 21.6 21.6 21.6
Belgium ................... 19.4 19.1 19.1 19.0 19.0 19.0 19.0
Denmark ................... 13.0 13.1 13.1 13.0 12.9 12.9 12.9
Finland ................... 17.7 18.8 18.0 17.9 18.5 19.0 19.0
France .................... 16.4 16.2 16.2 16.1 16.1 16.2 16.2
Germany 2 ................. 21.1 20.4 20.4 19.9 19.9 19.8 19.7
Greece .................... 20.1 20.0 19.3 19.3 19.3 19.3 -
Ireland ................... 9.6 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5
Italy ..................... 17.7 18.0 18.0 18.2 17.9 17.8 17.7
Luxembourg ................ 16.0 15.9 15.8 15.8 16.1 16.1 -
Netherlands ............... 19.8 19.7 19.7 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.4
Norway .................... 12.3 11.7 11.7 11.7 12.3 12.5 12.2
Portugal .................. - - - - - - -
Spain ..................... - - - - - - -
Sweden .................... 11.5 12.3 11.9 12.1 11.9 11.8 11.8
Switzerland ............... 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.1 18.1 18.1
United Kingdom ............ 11.4 11.5 11.7 11.8 11.8 11.9 11.9
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 13. Social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes as a percent of hourly
compensation
costs for production workers in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 16.7 17.2 17.8 18.3 18.7 19.1 19.4 20.2
Canada .................... 9.1 9.5 10.3 11.0 10.9 10.6 11.3 11.7
Mexico .................... 7.7 10.8 8.8 9.7 8.6 10.3 10.3 10.8
Australia ................. 13.0 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.3 13.4 14.0 14.0
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.3 3.1 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.3
Israel .................... 17.5 17.7 17.6 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5
Japan ..................... 9.9 10.7 11.4 12.4 12.0 11.4 11.8 12.1
Korea ..................... 10.1 9.8 9.7 9.9 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.8
New Zealand ............... 6.1 6.1 6.0 5.9 6.0 6.0 5.9 5.9
Singapore ................. 14.1 14.4 14.0 15.0 17.6 20.9 20.6 21.0
Sri Lanka ................. 9.2 9.3 9.3 9.4 9.4 9.3 14.4 14.4
Taiwan .................... 6.5 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5
Austria ................... 21.7 21.9 22.1 22.6 23.0 23.4 23.9 24.4
Belgium ................... 22.8 22.4 22.6 22.6 22.9 23.2 22.3 20.3
Denmark ................... 3.7 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.2 4.4 4.4 4.5
Finland ................... 20.7 21.4 22.6 22.3 22.1 21.7 21.5 21.4
France .................... 25.7 26.5 26.6 27.0 27.3 27.3 27.5 28.3
Germany 2 ................. 19.4 20.5 20.2 20.5 20.9 21.0 21.0 21.3
Greece .................... 17.3 16.4 16.4 17.0 16.8 16.6 16.7 17.1
Ireland ................... 10.9 11.2 11.6 11.5 10.6 12.1 13.3 14.3
Italy ..................... 32.8 33.4 31.7 31.2 31.1 29.4 28.5 29.3
Luxembourg ................ 14.3 14.9 15.0 14.7 14.7 15.0 15.1 15.2
Netherlands ............... 23.1 23.5 23.6 23.8 24.1 24.1 23.9 23.4
Norway .................... 17.6 17.9 17.9 18.1 19.6 19.6 19.7 20.1
Portugal .................. 19.2 19.2 20.5 20.6 21.1 21.8 21.8 22.5
Spain ..................... 30.3 30.4 27.6 26.6 25.6 25.8 26.0 25.6
Sweden .................... 22.3 24.7 26.9 26.5 26.8 27.4 27.8 27.9
Switzerland ............... 15.2 15.4 15.6 15.6 15.8 15.7 15.7 15.6
United Kingdom ............ 11.6 12.7 14.6 15.5 16.7 18.0 17.9 17.2
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 13.8 14.2 14.8 15.5 15.9 15.9 15.6 15.6
OECD 4 .................... 13.9 14.2 14.9 15.7 16.0 16.0 15.7 15.8
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 14.1 14.4 15.1 15.9 16.2 16.2 15.9 15.9
Europe .................... 20.8 21.6 21.7 21.8 22.2 22.2 22.1 22.1
European Union ............ 21.2 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.5 22.6 22.5 22.5
Asian NIEs ................ 9.1 8.2 8.5 8.6 9.3 9.9 10.4 10.6
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 13. Social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes as a percent of hourly
compensation
costs for production workers in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 20.2 20.0 19.9 19.7 19.9 20.1 20.3 20.8
Canada .................... 12.1 12.3 12.4 12.7 12.8 12.9 12.9 13.4
Mexico .................... 11.8 11.0 10.8 10.6 10.4 10.0 10.5 10.9
Australia ................. 14.0 14.0 14.6 15.3 15.3 15.3 15.3 15.9
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.2
Israel .................... 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.4 17.5
Japan ..................... 12.2 12.3 12.6 12.7 12.9 13.1 13.3 13.5
Korea ..................... 9.8 9.8 9.7 9.8 10.1 9.5 11.1 12.3
New Zealand ............... 6.0 6.0 6.0 5.9 6.0 5.9 5.9 6.0
Singapore ................. 21.7 22.8 22.1 13.5 9.4 10.4 12.2 14.0
Sri Lanka ................. 14.4 14.3 14.4 14.4 14.3 14.3 14.3 14.4
Taiwan .................... 6.5 6.5 6.5 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.4
Austria ................... 24.9 25.7 26.2 26.1 26.4 26.5 26.4 26.3
Belgium ................... 21.2 22.5 24.6 26.6 26.9 26.8 27.2 27.3
Denmark ................... 6.0 5.9 5.6 4.5 5.9 2.0 2.0 2.6
Finland ................... 20.4 20.7 21.0 21.2 22.0 23.3 23.6 24.3
France .................... 29.4 29.5 29.1 29.1 29.0 29.4 29.8 29.8
Germany 2 ................. 21.7 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.4 22.5 22.6 23.0
Greece .................... 18.2 18.0 18.1 18.6 19.3 18.7 18.0 18.5
Ireland ................... 14.3 15.1 15.5 15.8 15.5 15.7 15.5 15.1
Italy ..................... 29.6 29.1 29.5 30.0 30.2 30.4 32.0 32.1
Luxembourg ................ 14.9 14.8 15.2 15.5 15.5 15.9 15.7 15.3
Netherlands ............... 23.5 23.2 23.4 23.8 23.7 23.8 23.0 22.5
Norway .................... 19.3 19.1 19.4 19.5 19.5 19.9 19.3 19.1
Portugal .................. 23.4 24.1 24.5 24.4 24.3 24.5 24.1 24.1
Spain ..................... 25.4 25.0 24.6 24.6 24.6 24.7 24.8 25.0
Sweden .................... 29.5 29.5 29.7 29.8 30.2 30.2 30.5 30.0
Switzerland ............... 15.6 15.9 16.1 16.2 16.4 16.2 16.1 16.1
United Kingdom ............ 16.7 15.9 15.1 15.6 15.0 14.6 14.6 15.1
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 15.8 15.7 15.9 16.6 16.9 16.8 16.7 17.3
OECD 4 .................... 15.9 15.8 16.1 16.8 17.1 17.0 17.0 17.6
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 16.0 16.0 16.2 16.9 17.3 17.2 17.2 17.8
Europe .................... 22.4 22.5 22.6 23.1 23.1 23.0 23.3 23.4
European Union ............ 22.9 23.0 23.0 23.5 23.6 23.5 23.7 23.9
Asian NIEs ................ 11.3 11.6 11.3 8.8 7.8 8.0 8.7 9.6
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 13. Social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes as a percent of hourly
compensation
costs for production workers in manufacturing, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 21.6 22.3 22.5 22.1 21.6 21.4 21.4
Canada .................... 14.7 15.7 16.4 16.8 17.0 17.0 17.0
Mexico .................... 11.1 11.1 11.4 11.6 11.8 11.4 11.3
Australia ................. 15.9 15.9 16.5 16.5 16.6 16.5 16.6
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.2
Israel .................... 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5
Japan ..................... 13.7 14.0 14.3 14.5 14.7 14.7 14.7
Korea ..................... 14.8 16.7 16.6 16.8 15.8 15.8 15.8
New Zealand ............... 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 5.9
Singapore ................. 14.6 15.5 15.5 16.2 16.6 16.7 16.7
Sri Lanka ................. 14.3 14.3 14.3 14.3 14.3 14.3 -
Taiwan .................... 7.4 7.4 8.3 8.3 9.1 9.1 9.1
Austria ................... 26.4 26.7 27.4 27.7 27.6 27.6 27.6
Belgium ................... 27.5 27.9 28.2 28.3 28.3 28.3 28.2
Denmark ................... 3.5 3.7 3.5 4.2 4.8 4.8 4.9
Finland ................... 23.5 22.8 25.6 26.0 23.9 22.9 22.9
France .................... 30.2 30.8 31.2 31.5 31.3 31.0 31.2
Germany 2 ................. 23.1 23.4 23.0 24.4 25.0 25.3 26.0
Greece .................... 18.9 19.4 22.2 22.2 22.2 22.2 -
Ireland ................... 15.0 14.8 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.4
Italy ..................... 31.5 30.8 30.9 30.9 30.9 31.2 31.6
Luxembourg ................ 15.0 14.9 15.0 15.1 13.7 13.7 -
Netherlands ............... 22.6 22.4 23.2 22.9 23.3 22.6 22.6
Norway .................... 18.6 18.5 16.9 16.9 16.9 17.0 17.3
Portugal .................. 24.1 24.1 23.8 23.8 23.4 23.4 23.4
Spain ..................... 25.2 25.4 26.2 26.2 25.7 25.8 25.6
Sweden .................... 30.9 31.3 27.3 27.5 28.4 28.5 28.3
Switzerland ............... 16.4 16.6 16.6 16.6 17.2 17.2 17.2
United Kingdom ............ 16.4 15.2 14.1 12.9 12.9 12.9 12.9
Trade-weighted measures 3
All 28 foreign economies .. 17.7 18.2 18.1 18.4 18.7 18.8 18.7
OECD 4 .................... 18.1 18.6 18.4 18.7 19.1 19.2 19.1
less Mexico, Korea 5 .... 18.2 18.7 18.6 18.9 19.2 19.4 19.3
Europe .................... 23.7 23.7 23.4 23.8 24.0 24.0 24.0
European Union ............ 24.2 24.2 23.9 24.3 24.5 24.5 24.5
Asian NIEs ................ 10.5 11.2 11.5 11.9 12.2 12.4 12.2
Dash means data not available.
See notes at end of tables.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 14. Exchange rates, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997
(National currency units per U.S. dollar)
Country or area 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
United States ............. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000
Canada .................... 1.017 .9861 1.063 1.140 1.171 1.169 1.199 1.234
Mexico .................... 12.50 14.46 22.60 22.78 22.82 22.97 24.52 56.40
Australia ................. .7647 .8187 .9024 .8740 .8947 .8772 .8699 .9838
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 4.939 4.904 4.662 4.685 5.003 4.976 5.568 6.070
Israel .................... .6390 .7980 1.046 1.747 2.544 5.124 11.43 24.27
Japan ..................... 296.7 296.4 267.8 208.4 218.2 225.7 220.1 249.1
Korea ..................... 484.0 484.0 484.0 484.0 484.0 607.4 681.0 731.1
New Zealand ............... .8254 1.009 1.032 .9649 .9782 1.027 1.151 1.332
Singapore ................. 2.371 2.471 2.439 2.274 2.175 2.141 2.113 2.140
Sri Lanka ................. 7.050 8.459 9.153 15.61 15.57 16.53 19.25 20.81
Taiwan .................... 38.00 38.00 38.00 37.05 36.05 36.02 36.85 39.12
Austria ................... 17.40 17.94 16.53 14.50 13.37 12.93 15.89 17.06
Belgium ................... 36.69 38.58 35.83 31.44 29.33 29.20 37.03 45.78
Denmark ................... 5.735 6.044 6.003 5.508 5.260 5.629 7.102 8.344
Finland ................... 3.665 3.855 4.014 4.109 3.606 3.719 4.318 4.809
France .................... 4.282 4.775 4.915 4.501 4.255 4.220 5.409 6.579
Germany 2 ................. 2.455 2.517 2.321 2.005 1.833 1.815 2.254 2.428
Greece .................... 32.29 36.52 36.84 36.75 37.04 42.62 55.41 66.80
Ireland ................... .4500 .5540 .5730 .5210 .4890 .4860 .6200 .7040
Italy ..................... 652.4 830.3 882.8 848.8 830.9 855.1 1131 1354
Luxembourg ................ 36.78 38.61 35.84 31.49 29.32 29.24 37.13 45.69
Netherlands ............... 2.523 2.642 2.454 2.161 2.006 1.985 2.488 2.672
Norway .................... 5.214 5.456 5.322 5.241 5.064 4.936 5.728 6.457
Portugal .................. 25.45 30.16 38.12 43.89 48.93 50.05 61.44 80.10
Spain ..................... 57.39 66.85 75.26 76.49 67.13 71.64 92.00 110.1
Sweden .................... 4.142 4.356 4.468 4.517 4.288 4.229 5.035 6.284
Switzerland ............... 2.581 2.499 2.397 1.777 1.663 1.675 1.960 2.033
United Kingdom ............ .4501 .5541 .5731 .5213 .4712 .4300 .4940 .5721
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 14. Exchange rates, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
(National currency units per U.S. dollar)
Country or area 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
United States ............. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000
Canada .................... 1.232 1.295 1.366 1.390 1.326 1.231 1.184 1.167
Mexico .................... 120.1 167.8 256.9 611.8 1378 2273 2461 2813
Australia ................. 1.109 1.137 1.428 1.490 1.426 1.275 1.263 1.281
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 7.257 7.819 7.791 7.804 7.798 7.807 7.801 7.790
Israel .................... 56.21 293.2 1.18 1.488 1.595 1.599 1.916 2.016
Japan ..................... 237.6 237.4 238.5 168.4 144.6 128.2 138.1 145.0
Korea ..................... 775.8 806.0 870.0 881.4 822.6 731.5 671.5 707.8
New Zealand ............... 1.497 1.729 2.010 1.906 1.686 1.525 1.685 1.677
Singapore ................. 2.113 2.133 2.200 2.177 2.106 2.012 1.950 1.813
Sri Lanka ................. 23.53 25.44 27.16 28.02 29.44 31.81 36.05 40.06
Taiwan .................... 40.06 39.60 39.85 37.84 31.84 28.59 26.41 26.92
Austria ................... 17.97 20.00 20.68 15.26 12.65 12.36 13.24 11.33
Belgium ................... 51.12 57.75 59.34 44.66 37.36 36.78 39.41 33.42
Denmark ................... 9.148 10.35 10.60 8.095 6.848 6.741 7.321 6.190
Finland ................... 5.564 6.001 6.197 5.072 4.404 4.193 4.296 3.830
France .................... 7.620 8.736 8.980 6.926 6.012 5.959 6.380 5.447
Germany 2 ................. 2.554 2.845 2.942 2.170 1.798 1.757 1.881 1.617
Greece .................... 88.06 112.7 138.1 140.0 135.4 141.9 162.4 158.5
Ireland ................... .8012 .9205 .9379 .7455 .6721 .6553 .7052 .6033
Italy ..................... 1519 1756 1909 1491 1297 1302 1372 1198
Luxembourg ................ 51.13 57.78 59.38 44.67 37.33 36.77 39.40 33.42
Netherlands ............... 2.854 3.208 3.318 2.448 2.026 1.978 2.122 1.822
Norway .................... 7.301 8.160 8.593 7.398 6.741 6.524 6.913 6.254
Portugal .................. 111.6 147.7 172.1 149.8 141.2 144.3 157.5 142.7
Spain ..................... 143.5 160.8 170.0 140.0 123.5 116.5 118.4 102.0
Sweden .................... 7.672 8.271 8.603 7.127 6.347 6.137 6.456 5.923
Switzerland ............... 2.101 2.350 2.455 1.798 1.492 1.464 1.637 1.390
United Kingdom ............ .6597 .7482 .7708 .6813 .6098 .5614 .6104 .5605
Continued on the following page.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
Table 14. Exchange rates, 29 countries or areas, 1975-1997 -- continued
(National currency units per U.S. dollar)
Country or area 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
United States ............. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000
Canada .................... 1.146 1.209 1.290 1.366 1.373 1.364 1.385
Mexico .................... 3018 3095 3.116 3.375 6.419 7.601 7.918
Australia ................. 1.284 1.360 1.471 1.367 1.350 1.277 1.345
Hong Kong SAR 1............ 7.771 7.740 7.736 7.729 7.736 7.735 7.743
Israel .................... 2.279 2.459 2.830 3.011 3.011 3.288 3.449
Japan ..................... 134.6 126.8 111.1 102.2 93.96 108.80 121.00
Korea ..................... 733.4 780.6 802.7 803.5 771.3 804.5 950.8
New Zealand ............... 1.729 1.859 1.847 1.685 1.524 1.454 1.509
Singapore ................. 1.728 1.629 1.616 1.527 1.417 1.410 1.486
Sri Lanka ................. 41.37 43.83 48.32 49.42 51.25 55.27 -
Taiwan .................... 26.76 25.16 26.42 26.47 26.50 27.47 28.78
Austria ................... 11.69 10.99 11.64 11.41 10.08 10.59 12.21
Belgium ................... 34.20 32.15 34.58 33.43 29.47 30.97 35.81
Denmark ................... 6.404 6.037 6.486 6.356 5.600 5.800 6.609
Finland ................... 4.052 4.487 5.725 5.234 4.376 4.595 5.196
France .................... 5.647 5.294 5.667 5.546 4.986 5.116 5.839
Germany 2 ................. 1.661 1.562 1.655 1.622 1.432 1.505 1.735
Greece .................... 182.3 190.6 229.3 242.6 231.7 240.7 -
Ireland ................... .6196 .5868 .6827 .6680 .6236 .6250 .6595
Italy ..................... 1241 1232 1573 1611 1629 1543 1704
Luxembourg ................ 34.15 32.15 34.60 33.46 29.48 30.96 -
Netherlands ............... 1.872 1.759 1.858 1.819 1.604 1.686 1.953
Norway .................... 6.491 6.214 7.098 7.055 6.336 6.459 7.086
Portugal .................. 144.8 135.1 161.1 165.9 149.9 154.3 175.4
Spain ..................... 104.0 102.4 127.5 133.9 124.6 126.7 146.5
Sweden .................... 6.052 5.826 7.796 7.716 7.141 6.708 7.645
Switzerland ............... 1.436 1.406 1.478 1.367 1.181 1.236 1.451
United Kingdom ............ .5658 .5662 .6660 .6528 .6335 .6407 .6106
For currency units, see note to table 3.
1 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
2 Former West Germany.
3 For description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see introduction.
4 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
5 Mexico joined the OECD in 1994, and Korea joined in 1996.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1998.
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