Country Coverage

• Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment
• Hourly Compensation Costs
• Productivity and Unit Labor Costs
• Gross Domestic Product per Capita and per Employed Person
• Consumer Price Indexes

Related BLS International Data:

Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment  

Comparative (adjusted to U.S. concepts) labor force, employment, and unemployment data and several analytical variables are available from the Economic News Releases and Special Data Tables section on the International Labor Comparisons home page starting from 1960 for ten countries.

Data on monthly and quarterly unemployment rates are also updated and published on a monthly basis for these ten countries.

The international labor force series are constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to provide meaningful comparisons by selecting the U.S. concepts of labor force, employment, and unemployment for comparative purposes; analyzing foreign statistical series and selecting those which most nearly match the desired concepts; and adjusting statistical series, where necessary and feasible, for greater inter-country comparability.

Data on monthly and quarterly unemployment rates for European Union (EU) countries not covered in the comparative U.S. indicators are published on a monthly basis for eight selected countries and for EU regions.

There are other sources for international labor force and related data, including some that contain data for countries not covered by BLS. (The sources cited below are not exhaustive and are not maintained or controlled by BLS. They are provided for your convenience.)

• United Nations Industrial Development Organization—Statistics on industrial output; employment, wages and salaries; and the number of establishments by detailed industry
• The World Bank's World Development Indicators—800 indicators worldwide, including poverty, GDP per capita, employment, unemployment, education, prices, wages, minimum wages, and hours of work
• Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) database—Labor market information for the members of the APEC economic bloc includes employment by industry, occupation, education, and gender, as well as economic and demographic
statistics
• International Labor Office (ILO) Bureau of Statistics—Labor statistics worldwide accessible through a number of databases and publications, including LABORSTA described below; data and publications also on international classifications and international conferences of labor statistics, and recommendations, resolutions and guidelines for developing labor statistics
• International Labor Office (ILO) LABORSTA—Statistics on employment, unemployment, hours of work, wages, labor cost, consumer price indices, occupational injuries, strikes and lockouts, and occupational wages and hours
• International Labor Office (ILO) Key Indicators of the Labor Market (KILM)—Statistics covering 20 labor market indicators worldwide, including participation rates, employment, informal sector employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours worked, wages, productivity, compensation, education, poverty, income distribution, and labor market flows
 
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Standardized Unemployment Rates—Latest monthly, quarterly, and annual unemployment rates for OECD member countries, adjusted to ILO concepts
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Online Bookshop—Labor Force Statistics is an annual publication of labor force statistics for OECD member countries (20 years of historical data on employment by sector and professional status, unemployment, and participation rates by sex and detailed age groups); Quarterly Labor Force Statistics is a quarterly publication that uses the same definitions and coverage as those in the annual publication (Neither are available online, order from OECD bookshop)
• Eurostat-Statistical Office of the European Communities-monthly unemployment rates—Latest monthly unemployment rates for EU member countries (Choose news releases)

 

Hourly Compensation Costs

Comparative hourly compensation costs in national currencies and U.S. dollars for production workers and all employees in manufacturing are available from the Economic News Releases and Special Data Tables section on the International Labor Comparisons home page starting from 1975 for 36 economies.

The series on hourly compensation costs is constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to provide meaningful comparisons by selecting a conceptual framework for comparative purposes; analyzing foreign statistical series and selecting those which most nearly match the desired concepts; and adjusting statistical series, where necessary and feasible, for greater inter-country comparability.

There are other sources for international hourly compensation costs and related data, including some that contain countries not covered by BLS. (The sources cited below are not exhaustive and are not maintained or controlled by BLS. They are provided for your convenience.)

• International Labor Office (ILO) LABORSTA—Statistics on employment, unemployment, hours of work, wages, labor cost, consumer price indices, occupational injuries, strikes and lockouts, and occupational wages and hours
• Eurostat-Statistical Office of the European Communities—Quarterly labor costs indices, the total cost for employers of employing the labor force on an hourly basis, for EU member countries (Choose news releases)
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization—Statistics on industrial output; employment, wages and salaries; and the number of establishments by detailed industry
• World Bank World Development Indicators—800 world development indicators, including poverty, GDP per capita, employment, unemployment, education, prices, wages, minimum wages, and hours of work

 

Productivity and Unit Labor Costs

Comparative productivity and unit labor cost data for the manufacturing sector are available from the Economic News Releases and Special Data Tables section on the International Labor Comparisons home page starting from 1950 for 17 economies.

The international productivity and unit labor cost series are constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to provide meaningful comparisons by selecting a conceptual framework for comparative purposes; analyzing foreign statistical series and selecting those which most nearly match the desired concepts; and adjusting statistical series, where necessary and feasible, for greater inter-country comparability.

There are other sources for international productivity, unit labor cost, and related data, including some that contain countries not covered by BLS. (The sources cited below are not exhaustive and are not maintained or controlled by BLS. They are provided for your convenience.)

• International Labor Office (ILO) Key Indicators of the Labor Market (KILM)-—Statistics covering 20 labor market indicators worldwide, including participation rates, employment, informal sector employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours worked, wages, productivity, compensation, education, poverty, income distribution, and labor market flows

 

Gross Domestic Product per Capita and per Employed Person

Comparative real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and per employed person are available from the Economic News Releases and Special Data Tables section on the International Labor Comparisons home page starting from 1960 for 16 countries.

Sources for international GDP and related data for countries not covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): (The sources cited below are not exhaustive and are not maintained or controlled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are provided for your convenience.)

• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) National Accounts Statistics—National accounts statistics for OECD member countries
• World Bank World Development Indicators—800 indicators worldwide, including poverty, GDP per capita, employment, unemployment, education, prices, wages, minimum wages, and hours of work
• International Labor Office (ILO) Key Indicators of the Labor Market (KILM)-—Statistics covering 20 labor market indicators worldwide, including participation rates, employment, informal sector employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours worked, wages, productivity, compensation, education, poverty, income distribution, and labor market flows  

• Bureau of Labor Statistics Import/Export Prices

 

Consumer Price Indexes

Unadjusted Data

Unadjusted annual consumer price indexes (CPI) are available from the Economic News Releases and Special Data Tables section on the International Labor Comparisons home page starting from 1950 for 16 countries.

The indexes provided by BLS are from the national consumer price indexes as published by each country. They are not adjusted for comparability, except to convert the indexes to a common base year. National differences exist, for example, with respect to population coverage, frequency of market basket weight changes, and treatment of homeowner costs.

Data on percent changes in national CPIs are also available on a monthly basis for nine countries (denoted by an asterisk in the above chart).

Sources for international CPI and related data for countries not covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): (The sources cited below are not exhaustive and are not maintained or controlled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are provided for your convenience.)

• International Labor Office (ILO) LABORSTA—Statistics on employment, unemployment, hours of work, wages, labor cost, consumer price indices, occupational injuries, strikes and lockouts, and occupational wages and hours

Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)

Monthly percent change data for indexes following the concepts and methods of the European HICP are available for eight countries and areas.

The HICP differs from the U.S. CPI in two main areas; it covers the entire U.S. population and excludes owner-occupied housing from its scope. More information about the concepts and methods of the HICP can be found on the Internet at: www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/05/art3full.pdf.

 

Last Modified Date: October 19, 2009