Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/ilc USDL: 10-1173
Technical information: (202) 691-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Thursday, August 26, 2010
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF HOURLY COMPENSATION
COSTS IN MANUFACTURING, 2008
The trade-weighted average of hourly compensation costs in U.S.
dollars for all employees in manufacturing among 32 foreign economies
was 85 percent of the U.S. level in 2008, increasing from 82 percent in
2007, according to data issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(See chart 1.) Compensation costs relative to the United States rose or
remained unchanged in 28 of the 32 foreign economies covered in 2008.
(See table 1.) This news release contains data for all employees and
production workers. (See discussion on page 3, table B, and table 7.)
A note on labor costs in China and India appears on page 4 of this
release.
In the United States, hourly compensation costs for all employees in
manufacturing rose 2.4 percent from the 2007 level to $32.26 in 2008.
When measured in national currency terms, trade-weighted average costs
increased 3.5 percent in the combined 32 foreign economies in 2008. The
value of foreign currencies rose 3.1 percent against the U.S. dollar
resulting in a rise in hourly compensation costs in the foreign economies
of 7.2 percent on a U.S. dollar basis. (See chart 2 and table A.)
Chart 1. Indexes of hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars
for all employees in manufacturing, 2008 (U.S.=100)
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT.
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Compensation costs for all employees expressed in U.S. dollars
This release provides manufacturing compensation data in terms of both
national currencies and U.S. dollars. While data on a national currency
basis show underlying wage and benefit trends within each country,
frequent and sometimes sharp changes in currency exchange rates can have a
large impact on compensation costs in U.S. dollar terms. Data on a national
currency basis are converted to U.S. dollars using the average daily exchange
rate for the reference year. Compensation costs in U.S. dollars are often
used as indicators of competitiveness of manufactured goods in world trade
and are the focus of the following discussion.
Compensation costs for all employees in manufacturing measured in U.S. dollars
continued to rise in 2008 in most of the foreign economies—with only two
countries, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, showing a decrease
in costs (-16.2 percent and -3.6 percent, respectively). In the Republic of
Korea, the majority of the decrease was due to the depreciation of the won
(-15.4 percent). In the United Kingdom, the entire decrease was due to the
depreciation of the pound (-7.4 percent). The strongest growth in hourly c
ompensation costs in U.S. dollars was seen in the Eastern European countries
(26.0 percent), Argentina (24.7 percent), Israel (23.5 percent), and Singapore
(19.5 percent). The changes in hourly compensation in Canada and Mexico were
relatively small (2.0 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively). (See chart 2 and
table 3.) The rate of compensation increase in a trade-weighted average of the
32 foreign economies was 7.2 percent in 2008, compared to 9.8 percent in 2007.
Chart 2. Hourly Compensation costs in U.S. dollars for all
employees in manufacturing, 1999-2008
PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT.
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Exchange rates
In 2008, the trade-weighted value of the foreign currencies against the
dollar increased by 3.1 percent, continuing the trend seen over the last
several years. From 1996 to 2002, the trade-weighted value of the currencies
against the U.S. dollar weakened, on average, while the opposite has been true
from 2003 to 2008. The currencies of all economies appreciated against the U.S.
dollar in 2008 with the exception of Argentina, Mexico, Republic of Korea,
New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. (See table 5.)
The movements of the foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar in 2008 had
an influence on hourly manufacturing compensation costs measured in U.S. dollars.
Hourly compensation costs on a national currency basis in the 32 foreign economies
rose 3.5 percent. (See table 4.) However, when adjusted for the appreciation of the
foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar, this increase in costs was magnified to
7.2 percent. In 2008, changes in both hourly compensation costs and exchange rates
moved in the same direction for nearly all countries, so that increases (or decreases)
in percent changes in hourly compensation costs in national currency were larger when
measured in U.S. dollars. However, in Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United
Kingdom, hourly compensation costs measured in national currency increased while the
exchange rates decreased. As a result, for these four countries, hourly compensation
costs measured in U.S. dollars were less than those measured in national currency.
Compensation Costs for Production Workers
BLS also compiles hourly compensation costs data for production workers in
manufacturing. Production workers generally include those employees who are engaged
in fabricating, assembly, and related activities and typically account for a large
part of manufacturing employment. All employees include production workers as well as
all others employed full or part time in an establishment. (See the technical notes
beginning on page 8 for more detailed definitions of production workers and all
employees.) The production worker series includes data for Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka,
and Luxembourg, three economies not covered by the all employee series. Argentina,
Greece, and Slovakia are not included in the production worker series as comparable
data are not available.
BOX: A note on the measures
The hourly compensation costs measures are based on statistics available to BLS as
of June 2010. These measures are prepared specifically for international comparisons
of employer labor costs in manufacturing. The methods used, as well as the results,
differ somewhat from those of other BLS series on U.S. compensation costs. BLS expects
to issue data for 2009 within the next 6 months.
See the Technical Notes for further information regarding definitions, sources, and
computation methods, as well as a description of the trade-weighted measures for
economic groups.
The data in this release have been revised from previous updates, in some cases,
significantly.
END OF BOX: A note on the measures
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BOX: Compensation costs for China and India
Acknowledging that China and India are of growing importance to global manufacturing,
BLS has developed estimates of hourly compensation for both countries. Compensation
costs for China and India are not directly comparable with each other or with the data
for other countries found in this release, and therefore are presented separately.
A description of the methods used to construct the China estimates and data comparability
issues can be found in the August 2005 Monthly Labor Review (on the BLS website at
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/08/art3full.pdf). In general, the methods used to
prepare the hourly compensation costs data for subsequent years are the same as used in
the article. For the full time-series for China, see http://www.bls.gov/fls/china.htm.
A discussion of the 2007 and 2008 data for China will be available in a forthcoming
article in the Review.
A description of the methods used to construct the India estimates and data comparability
issues can be found in the May 2010 Monthly Labor Review (on the BLS website at
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2010/05/art1full.pdf). The data for India cover the
organized manufacturing sector only, which is comprised of the establishments that
are registered with the government. For more information, see the article in the Review.
China: Hourly Compensation Costs for All Employees in
Manufacturing, 2005-2008
National U.S. Index (1)
Year Currency Dollar (United
Basis Basis States
(Yuan) (US$) =100)
2005 5.95 0.73 2.4
2006 6.44 0.81 2.7
2007 (2) 8.06 1.06 3.4
2008 9.48 1.36 4.2
India: Hourly Compensation Costs for All Employees in
Manufacturing, 2003-2005
National U.S. Index (1)
Year Currency Dollar (United
Basis Basis States
(Rupees) (US$) =100)
2003 37.68 0.81 2.9
2004 38.55 0.85 2.9
2005 40.02 0.91 3.1
(1) The indexes represent hourly compensation costs in China and India as a percent of
hourly compensation costs for all employees in U.S. manufacturing.
(2) Break in series. Data for town and village enterprises (TVEs) include
self-employed workers prior to 2007. Data for 2007 and 2008 exclude self-employed workers.
END OF BOX: Compensation costs for China and India
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Table A. Hourly compensation costs, in national currency and in
U.S. dollars, for all employees in manufacturing and exchange
rates (U.S. dollars per national currency unit)
Percent change, 2007-2008
Hourly Hourly
Country compensation, compensation,
or area national Exchange U.S.
currency Rates dollars
Americas
United States 2.4 - 2.4
Argentina 26.8 -1.7 24.7
Brazil 9.7 6.2 16.5
Canada 1.3 0.7 2.0
Mexico 5.6 -1.9 3.5
Asia and Oceania
Australia 6.4 1.7 8.2
Israel 6.2 16.3 23.5
Japan 1.8 13.9 16.0
Korea, Republic of -.9 -15.4 -16.2
New Zealand 4.3 -2.9 1.3
Philippines 6.8 3.8 10.9
Singapore 12.2 6.5 19.5
Taiwan 2.4 4.2 6.8
Europe
Austria 3.2 7.4 10.8
Belgium 3.5 7.4 11.2
Czech Republic 4.8 20.3 26.1
Denmark 1.3 6.9 8.3
Finland 5.4 7.4 13.2
France 3.1 7.4 10.7
Germany 2.3 7.4 9.8
Greece 2.9 7.4 10.5
Hungary 6.0 7.0 13.4
Ireland 4.9 7.4 12.6
Italy 3.4 7.4 11.1
Netherlands 3.8 7.4 11.4
Norway 5.7 3.9 9.8
Poland 10.1 22.2 34.5
Portugal 4.2 7.4 12.0
Slovakia 8.8 18.4 28.8
Spain 5.2 7.4 13.0
Sweden 4.4 2.6 7.1
Switzerland 1.8 10.9 12.9
United Kingdom 4.1 -7.4 -3.6
Trade-weighted measures (1)
All 31 foreign economies 3.5 3.1 7.2
OECD (2) 2.9 2.7 5.6
Europe 3.5 5.3 8.9
Euro Area 3.2 7.5 11.0
Eastern Europe 7.5 17.1 26.0
East Asia ex-Japan 3.6 -3.0 .9
(1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups,
see the Technical Notes starting on page 8 of this release.
(2) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
- 6 -
Table B. Hourly Compensation Costs of All Employees and Production Workers
in Manufacturing, 2008
Country All Production All Production Production
or area Employees Workers Employees Workers Workers (All
(US=100) (US=100) (US$) (US$) Employees=100)
Americas
United States 100 100 32.26 25.65 80
Argentina 31 - 9.89 - -
Brazil 26 27 8.28 6.93 84
Canada 101 116 32.69 29.78 91
Mexico 13 12 4.04 3.12 77
Asia and Oceania
Australia 114 127 36.88 32.49 88
Hong Kong SAR (1) - 23 - 5.91 -
Israel 61 67 19.61 17.13 87
Japan 86 90 27.80 23.15 83
Korea, Republic of 50 55 16.27 14.20 87
New Zealand 60 68 19.43 17.48 90
Philippines 5 5 1.68 1.31 78
Singapore 58 38 18.77 9.83 52
Sri Lanka - 3 - .68 -
Taiwan 27 27 8.68 6.95 80
Europe
Austria 148 152 47.72 38.88 81
Belgium 146 154 47.14 39.42 84
Czech Republic 38 40 12.20 10.35 85
Denmark 159 178 51.28 45.74 89
Finland 138 147 44.68 37.64 84
France 130 123 41.94 31.61 75
Germany 149 141 48.22 36.07 75
Greece 61 - 19.58 - -
Hungary 30 29 9.56 7.52 79
Ireland 139 140 44.80 35.79 80
Italy 111 122 35.77 31.37 88
Luxembourg - 130 - 33.37 -
Netherlands 137 145 44.32 37.15 84
Norway 177 193 57.18 49.54 87
Poland 31 32 10.07 8.26 82
Portugal 38 38 12.23 9.83 80
Slovakia 34 - 10.91 - -
Spain 86 92 27.71 23.67 85
Sweden 134 150 43.33 38.39 89
Switzerland 134 145 43.28 37.12 86
United Kingdom 111 109 35.81 27.86 78
(1) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
- 7 -
Additional data available
In addition to the compensation cost measures covered in this news release, supplementary
time-series tables are available for comparative levels of hourly compensation costs, hourly direct pay, pay for time worked, and the structure of compensation for all
employees in manufacturing for all years from 1996 to 2008, and for production workers in manufacturing for all years from 1975 to 2008. Data also are available for national
currency hourly compensation and exchange rates in the time-series tables (http://www.bls.gov/fls/#compensation).
BLS also computes comparative measures for 22 sub-manufacturing industries. Data for the
sub-manufacturing industries are not included in this release; in general, the data limitations for the sub-manufacturing industries are greater than for total manufacturing.
The data for sub-manufacturing industries currently are available on a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis from 1996 to 2007 for all employees and from
1992 to 2007 for production workers. The data in this release have been revised from previous updates, in some cases, significantly. The data in International Hourly
Compensation Costs, by Sub-Manufacturing Industry at
http://www.bls.gov/ilc/flshcaeindnaics.htm (all employees) and http://www.bls.gov/ilc/flshcpwindnaics.htm (production workers) have
not been updated to reflect these revisions and should not be compared to these data.
For further information, contact the Division of International Labor Comparisons by phone
at 202-691-5654, by e-mail at ilchelp@bls.gov, or by mail at Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 2150, Washington, DC 20212.
Subscribe to the ILC e-newsletter: JustOut! Email ILCpr@bls.gov with "subscribe" in the
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Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon
request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.
This material is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced
without permission. It may be translated into foreign languages without permission,
with a separate credit for the translation.
-8-
Technical Notes
The tables in this news release present international comparisons of hourly compensation costs for
all employees and 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. For several reasons, BLS compensation data
permit more meaningful comparisons of employers' labor costs across countries than data on average
earnings published by many countries: national definitions of average earnings differ considerably;
average earnings do not include all items of labor cost; and the omitted labor cost items
frequently represent a large proportion of that total cost. In contrast, BLS compensation data
refer to a common labor cost concept, defined below, and include all items of labor cost with the
exceptions noted in the following section.
The compensation measures in this news release are based on statistics available to BLS as of June
2010. These measures may be revised as data are collected to update compensation measures for
sub-manufacturing industries. Data for sub-manufacturing industries are available at
for all employees and
for production workers.
Definitions
Hourly compensation costs include (1) hourly direct pay, (2) employer social insurance expenditures
and (3) labor-related taxes. Hourly direct pay includes all payments made directly to the worker,
before payroll deductions of any kind, consisting of pay for time worked and other direct pay.
Social insurance expenditures refer to the value of social contributions incurred by employers in
order to secure entitlement to social benefits for their employees; these contributions often
provide delayed, future income and benefits to employees. Included are employer expenditures for
legally required insurance programs, and for contractual and private benefit plans. Labor-related
taxes refer to taxes on payrolls or employment (or reductions to reflect subsidies), even if they
do not finance programs that directly benefit workers.
The BLS definition of hourly compensation costs is not the same as the International Labor Office
(ILO) definition of total labor costs. BLS hourly compensation costs do not include all items of
labor costs. Expenditures on the maintenance and repair of facilities related to company-provided
services-such as cafeterias, daycares, private medical clinics, and recreational facilities- are
excluded because they are overhead costs not directly linked to the level of employment or payroll.
Recruitment and vocational training costs and reimbursements of business expenses are not included
because the concepts used, and thus the measurement of these items, are not consistent across
countries. The above labor costs items not included account for no more than 2 percent of total
labor costs in most countries for which the data are available.
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 (for example, power plants); and other services
closely related to the above activities. Working supervisors are generally included; apprentices
and other trainees are generally excluded.
All employees include production workers as well as all others employed full or part time in an
establishment during a specified payroll period. Temporary employees are included. Persons
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are considered employed if they receive pay for any part of the specified pay period. The
self-employed, unpaid family workers, contract workers, and workers in private households are
excluded.
Hourly Compensation Costs consists of:
> Hourly Direct Pay
>> Pay for Time Worked
>>> Basic wages
>>> Piece rate
>>> Overtime premiums
>>> Shift, holiday, or night work premiums.
>>> Cost-of-living adjustments
>>> Bonuses and premiums paid each pay period
>> Other Direct Pay
>>> Pay for time not worked (vacations, holidays, and other leave, except sick leave)
>>> Seasonal and irregular bonuses
>>> Allowances for family events, commuting expenses, etc.
>>> The cash value of payments in kind
>>> Severance pay (where explicitly not linked to a collective agreement)
> Employer Social Insurance Expenditures (both legally required and contractual and private) and
Labor-related Taxes
>> Retirement and disability pensions
>> Health insurance
>> Income guarantee insurance and sick leave
>> Life and accident insurance
>> Occupational injury and illness compensation
>> Unemployment insurance
>> Severance pay (where linked to a collective agreement)
>> Other social insurance expenditures
>> Taxes (or subsidies) on payrolls or employment
Data on Hourly Direct Pay, Pay for Time Worked, and Social Insurance Expenditures can be found in
the time series tables, updated concurrently with this release, at
.
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 and subsidies. 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 per hour worked.
Earnings statistics are obtained from surveys of employment, hours, and earnings, from surveys or
censuses of manufactures, or from administrative data sources. The surveys used in the BLS series
typically cover firms with a minimum of one to ten employees.
For most countries, average earnings are adjusted to total compensation using adjustment factors
obtained from periodic labor cost surveys or censuses of manufacturers; the adjustment factors are
interpolated or projected to non-survey years on the basis of other information. Generally, these
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surveys cover all employees in the establishment; survey data are used for both production worker
and all employee series. Other information used includes tabulations of employer social security
contribution rates provided by the International Social Security Association, information on
contractual and legislated fringe benefit changes, and statistical series on indirect labor costs.
For the United States, the adjustment factors are specially constructed for international
comparisons using data from several surveys. The methods used, as well as the results, differ
somewhat from those for other BLS series on U.S. compensation costs.
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 remain.
Exceptions to these methods, as well as data sources used can be found in "Country Notes and
Sources" located at http://www.bls.gov/ilc/ichccsources.pdf.
Exchange Rates and Currencies
Hourly compensation costs are converted to U.S. dollars using the average daily exchange rate for
the reference year. 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.
On January 1, 1999, several European countries joined the European Monetary Union (EMU): Austria,
Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and
Spain. Greece joined on January 1, 2001 and Slovakia joined on January 1, 2009. There are
currently other member countries of the EMU that are not covered in this report. Currencies of EMU
members were established at fixed conversion rates to the euro, the official currency of the EMU.
For the EMU countries, with the exception of Greece and Slovakia, data on hourly compensation
costs are published in the old national currencies used in each country before the adoption of the
euro (from 1975-1998 for production workers and from 1996-1998 for all employees). Data for both
series are presented in euros from 1999-2008. Data for Greece are reported in drachmas for 2000 and
in euros from 2001-2008. Data for Slovakia are reported in koruna from 1997-2008; Slovakia will be
reported in euros beginning with 2009 data.
Industrial Classifications
The hourly compensation measures relate to manufacturing as defined by the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS). NAICS is the common industrial classification used by the United
States, Canada, and Mexico. The NAICS definition of manufacturing differs somewhat from the
definition of manufacturing used in other countries. Some industries that are not included in the
NAICS definition of manufacturing, such as publishing of books and sound recordings, some repair
and maintenance of equipment, and some business support services, are included in the definition of
manufacturing in most other industrial classifications. In contrast, other industries are included
in the NAICS definition of manufacturing but not in the definition of manufacturing for most
foreign economies, such as some processing of foods, some packaging, and retail sales of bakery
products from the production facility. Most of the differences other than the treatment of
publishing are very minor and do not have a noticeable impact on overall manufacturing averages.
BLS makes adjustments to remove publishing from manufacturing for the foreign economies in which it
is classified as a part of manufacturing-except for Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, for
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which the data necessary to remove publishing are not available. For the countries for which
adjustments are made, the effect of publishing on manufacturing wages is estimated and removed
using data from national sources or from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) "International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics." Except for Hong Kong, the effect of
removing publishing from manufacturing does not change the level of hourly compensation costs for
any economy more than 1.5 percent, and the change is less than one percent in most countries. For
Hong Kong, the effect of the adjustments is 2 to 4 percent in several years.
Trade-weighted Measures
The trade weights used to compute the average compensation cost measures for selected economic
groups are weights based on the relative dollar value of U.S. trade (exports plus imports) in
manufactured commodities with each country or area in 2007. (See the following table.) The trade
data are compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The only countries not covered in the trade-weighted measures of this report that accounted for as
much as one percent of such trade in 2007 are China, India, Malaysia, and Thailand. Hourly
compensation costs data for China and India are included in this report in a special text box. In
addition, articles on manufacturing compensation costs in China and India are available on the BLS
website at (China) and
(India). The compensation data for China and
India are not directly comparable with each other or with the data for other countries found in
this news release, and therefore are presented separately.
The countries included in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
trade-weighted measure are Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand,
and all European countries covered in the series. The group labeled "Euro Area" consists of the
European Union member countries in this release that have adopted the euro as the common currency
as of January 1, 2009-Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece (all employees only),
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg (production workers only), the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia (all
employees only), and Spain. The group labeled "Europe" consists of the members of the Euro Area
and the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United
Kingdom. The group labeled “Eastern Europe” consists of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and
Slovakia (all employees only). The group labeled "East Asia ex-Japan" consists of Hong Kong SAR
(production workers only), the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan.
The trade-weighted measures relate to the economic groups defined above. The trade-weighted
average hourly compensation costs are computed as the trade-weighted arithmetic average of cost
levels for the individual countries or areas; the trade-weighted average rates of change are
computed as the trade-weighted arithmetic average of the rates of change for the individual
countries or areas. Rates of change derived from the trade-weighted average hourly compensation
cost levels need not be the same as the trade-weighted average rates of change.
If compensation cost data for the most recent year(s) are missing for a country, trade-weighted
estimates are computed using the average percent change in the cost levels for all the other
economies in the series to estimate the missing year(s). An economy is included in the
trade-weighted series beginning with the start year of that economy's compensation cost series.
For Germany, the compensation cost series begins in 1993. For the purpose of calculating the
trade-weighted measures only, 1975-1992 compensation cost levels for Germany refer to Former West
Germany.
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Share of total U.S. imports and exports of manufactured products in 2007
(in percent)
Country or area 2007 Country or area 2007
and economic trade and economic trade
group share group share
Argentina 0.3 Hungary 0.1
Brazil 1.6 Ireland 1.5
Canada 17.0 Italy 1.7
Mexico 11.0 Netherlands 1.7
Norway 0.3
Australia 1.0 Poland 0.2
Israel 1.2 Portugal 0.2
Japan 7.3 Slovakia 0.1
Korea, Republic of 2.9 Spain 0.7
New Zealand 0.2 Sweden 0.6
Philippines 0.6 Switzerland 1.1
Singapore 1.6 United Kingdom 3.5
Taiwan 2.2
Economic Groups (1)
Austria 0.5 32 Foreign Economies 69.2
Belgium 1.4 OECD (2)(3) 61.5
Czech Republic 0.1 Europe (3) 22.0
Denmark 0.3 Euro Area (3) 15.7
Finland 0.3 Eastern Europe (3) 0.6
France 2.4 East Asia ex-Japan (3) 7.4
Germany 5.1
Greece 0.1
(1) Trade shares for Economic Groups refer to the country coverage of the
all employees series. The relevant trade shares for the production worker
series are: 32 Foreign Economies, 69.7; OECD, 61.3; Europe, 21.9; Euro Area,
15.6; Eastern Europe, 0.5; East Asia ex-Japan, 8.3.
(2) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(3) See the section on Trade-weighted measures for definitions of trade-weight groups.
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 this report are averages for all manufacturing industries and are
not necessarily representative of all sub-manufacturing industries. In the United States and some
other countries, such as Mexico and Taiwan, differentials in hourly compensation cost levels by
industry are fairly wide. More information on compensation cost differentials in sub-manufacturing
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industries is available on the BLS website at .
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 inter-country 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
another base 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 some 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 (for example, payments to
retirement funds), a type of insurance (for example, payments to unemployment or health benefit
funds), or current social benefits (for example, 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, because 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.
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Table 1. All Employees: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, 33
countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2008
Country or Area 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008
Americas
United States............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Argentina................. 33 34 33 11 15 22 25 31
Brazil.................... 32 29 17 11 13 20 23 26
Canada.................... 86 78 76 68 83 97 102 101
Mexico (1)................ 9 10 12 13 12 12 12 13
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 88 75 68 65 94 99 108 114
Israel.................... 52 54 53 47 47 48 50 61
Japan..................... 108 90 103 81 88 81 76 86
Korea, Republic of........ 44 29 40 38 44 59 62 50
New Zealand............... 56 45 38 37 52 54 61 60
Philippines............... 5 4 4 3 3 4 5 5
Singapore................. 54 50 47 45 46 46 50 58
Taiwan.................... 31 27 30 25 25 27 26 27
Europe
Austria................... 142 121 100 97 123 127 137 148
Belgium................... 135 116 97 96 124 127 135 146
Czech Republic............ 15 15 14 17 23 27 31 38
Denmark................... - 113 98 101 130 137 150 159
Finland................... 112 94 81 84 112 118 125 138
France.................... 126 108 87 84 108 112 120 130
Germany................... - 125 103 103 131 132 139 149
Greece.................... - - 32 34 52 53 56 61
Hungary................... 14 13 12 15 21 22 27 30
Ireland................... 89 84 74 81 110 115 126 139
Italy..................... 94 83 67 68 93 96 102 111
Netherlands............... - 103 85 90 118 120 126 137
Norway.................... - 117 102 114 138 149 165 177
Poland.................... - 15 14 15 17 21 24 31
Portugal.................. 31 28 23 24 31 32 35 38
Slovakia.................. - 13 11 12 18 22 27 34
Spain..................... 69 60 50 51 69 72 78 86
Sweden.................... 121 107 91 89 119 119 128 134
Switzerland............... 149 123 100 104 123 121 122 134
United Kingdom............ 76 88 83 84 106 110 118 111
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. - 69 65 61 74 79 82 85
OECD (2).................. - 73 69 65 79 84 88 91
Europe (3)................ - 102 86 87 112 115 122 129
Euro Area (4)............. - 106 87 88 114 117 124 134
Eastern Europe (5)........ - 14 13 15 19 23 27 33
East Asia ex-Japan (6).... - 31 35 33 35 42 43 41
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(3) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(5) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
(6) East Asia ex-Japan includes the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore,
and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-15-
Table 2. All Employees: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing,
33 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2008
Country or Area 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008
Americas
United States............. 22.11 23.12 24.63 27.01 28.94 29.98 31.51 32.26
Argentina................. 7.32 7.87 8.05 2.98 4.47 6.57 7.93 9.89
Brazil.................... 7.12 6.69 4.30 3.07 3.80 5.98 7.10 8.28
Canada.................... 19.01 18.08 18.68 18.39 24.14 29.21 32.06 32.69
Mexico (1)................ 2.06 2.37 3.04 3.57 3.33 3.71 3.90 4.04
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 19.36 17.31 16.64 17.67 27.08 29.55 34.08 36.88
Israel.................... 11.54 12.42 13.02 12.57 13.72 14.35 15.87 19.61
Japan..................... 23.93 20.83 25.34 21.75 25.59 24.32 23.97 27.80
Korea, Republic of........ 9.70 6.73 9.79 10.37 12.73 17.55 19.42 16.27
New Zealand............... 12.41 10.34 9.32 10.12 15.17 16.08 19.19 19.43
Philippines............... 1.21 0.87 0.89 0.88 0.96 1.32 1.52 1.68
Singapore................. 11.93 11.54 11.65 12.09 13.23 13.85 15.71 18.77
Taiwan.................... 6.89 6.29 7.31 6.82 7.27 8.12 8.13 8.68
Europe
Austria................... 31.42 28.04 24.55 26.32 35.58 38.16 43.06 47.72
Belgium................... 29.76 26.76 23.95 25.94 35.85 38.08 42.41 47.14
Czech Republic............ 3.41 3.53 3.39 4.60 6.56 8.13 9.67 12.20
Denmark................... - 26.04 24.07 27.33 37.53 41.01 47.35 51.28
Finland................... 24.72 21.70 19.90 22.65 32.50 35.27 39.45 44.68
France.................... 27.80 24.93 21.38 22.81 31.23 33.65 37.88 41.94
Germany................... - 28.99 25.48 27.70 37.79 39.70 43.91 48.22
Greece.................... - - 7.94 9.22 15.18 15.78 17.72 19.58
Hungary................... 3.02 3.01 2.89 4.09 6.04 6.68 8.43 9.56
Ireland................... 19.78 19.40 18.21 22.01 31.96 34.56 39.78 44.80
Italy..................... 20.88 19.21 16.57 18.50 26.98 28.72 32.21 35.77
Netherlands............... - 23.88 21.03 24.18 34.12 35.85 39.77 44.32
Norway.................... - 27.16 25.11 30.79 39.86 44.58 52.07 57.18
Poland.................... - 3.50 3.40 4.05 4.81 6.19 7.49 10.07
Portugal.................. 6.89 6.42 5.67 6.54 9.09 9.74 10.92 12.23
Slovakia.................. - 2.91 2.61 3.25 5.21 6.60 8.47 10.91
Spain..................... 15.30 13.94 12.24 13.77 19.83 21.63 24.51 27.71
Sweden.................... 26.69 24.73 22.38 23.98 34.44 35.81 40.46 43.33
Switzerland............... 32.95 28.37 24.71 28.05 35.65 36.18 38.34 43.28
United Kingdom............ 16.88 20.40 20.56 22.83 30.57 33.01 37.14 35.81
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. - 15.98 16.06 16.40 21.32 23.51 25.75 27.49
OECD (2).................. - 16.97 17.10 17.53 22.96 25.29 27.69 29.43
Europe (3)................ - 23.56 21.15 23.46 32.26 34.32 38.38 41.69
Euro Area (4)............. - 24.40 21.40 23.63 32.88 34.93 39.04 43.28
Eastern Europe (5)........ - 3.29 3.15 4.08 5.62 6.84 8.41 10.56
East Asia ex-Japan (6).... - 7.17 8.71 8.88 10.21 12.53 13.69 13.31
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(3) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(4) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(5) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
(6) East Asia ex-Japan includes the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore,
and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-16-
Table 3. All Employees: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in U.S.
dollars in manufacturing, 33 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2008
Country or Area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2005 2006 2007 2008
2008(1) 2000 2008
Americas
United States............. 3.2 2.7 3.4 2.8 .8 5.1 2.4
Argentina................. 2.5 2.4 2.6 22.0 20.4 20.6 24.7
Brazil.................... 1.3 -11.8 8.5 31.7 19.5 18.7 16.5
Canada.................... 4.6 -.4 7.2 11.0 9.0 9.8 2.0
Mexico (2)................ 5.7 10.1 3.6 7.0 4.1 5.0 3.5
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 5.5 -3.7 10.5 6.5 2.5 15.3 8.2
Israel.................... 4.5 3.1 5.3 2.5 2.0 10.6 23.5
Japan..................... 1.3 1.4 1.2 -.1 -4.9 -1.4 16.0
Korea, Republic of........ 4.4 .2 6.6 18.8 16.0 10.7 -16.2
New Zealand............... 3.8 -6.9 9.6 9.7 -3.4 19.3 1.3
Philippines............... 2.8 -7.4 8.3 10.6 24.1 15.0 10.9
Singapore................. 3.9 -.6 6.2 .5 4.1 13.4 19.5
Taiwan.................... 1.9 1.5 2.2 8.6 2.9 .0 6.8
Europe
Austria................... 3.5 -6.0 8.7 3.5 3.6 12.8 10.8
Belgium................... 3.9 -5.3 8.8 2.5 3.6 11.4 11.2
Czech Republic............ 11.2 -.2 17.4 11.0 11.7 18.9 26.1
Denmark................... 6.6 - 9.9 4.0 5.1 15.5 8.3
Finland................... 5.1 -5.3 10.6 3.8 4.6 11.8 13.2
France.................... 3.5 -6.4 8.8 3.6 4.1 12.6 10.7
Germany................... 5.2 - 8.3 1.0 4.0 10.6 9.8
Greece.................... - - 12.0 -3.5 7.7 12.3 10.5
Hungary................... 10.1 -1.1 16.1 8.8 1.7 26.3 13.4
Ireland................... 7.0 -2.1 11.9 3.6 4.4 15.1 12.6
Italy..................... 4.6 -5.6 10.1 2.9 3.5 12.2 11.1
Netherlands............... 6.0 - 9.8 2.1 2.9 10.9 11.4
Norway.................... 7.0 - 10.8 5.5 6.0 16.8 9.8
Poland.................... 10.9 - 14.5 17.0 9.8 21.1 34.5
Portugal.................. 4.9 -4.7 10.1 2.9 4.1 12.2 12.0
Slovakia.................. 13.0 - 19.6 11.9 13.2 28.3 28.8
Spain..................... 5.1 -5.4 10.8 3.6 5.2 13.3 13.0
Sweden.................... 4.1 -4.3 8.6 -.7 4.7 13.0 7.1
Switzerland............... 2.3 -6.9 7.3 .9 .5 6.0 12.9
United Kingdom............ 6.5 5.1 7.2 3.9 4.0 12.5 -3.6
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. 4.6 - 6.4 6.9 5.3 9.8 7.2
OECD (3).................. 4.7 - 6.5 6.3 4.8 8.6 5.6
Europe (4)................ 5.3 - 9.0 2.8 3.9 12.1 8.9
Euro Area (5)............. 5.0 - 9.2 2.4 3.9 11.9 11.0
Eastern Europe (6)........ 11.1 - 16.4 12.7 8.6 23.0 26.0
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... 3.4 - 5.3 11.0 10.1 8.4 .9
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) 1997-2008 data for Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia. 1998-2008
data for Germany. 2000-2008 data for Greece.
(2) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore,
and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-17-
Table 4. All Employees: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in national
currency in manufacturing, 33 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2008
Country or Area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2005 2006 2007 2008
2008(1) 2000 2008
Americas
United States............. 3.2 2.7 3.4 2.8 .8 5.1 2.4
Argentina................. 12.9 2.4 18.6 21.2 26.6 22.8 26.8
Brazil.................... 6.5 2.4 8.5 9.6 6.6 6.3 9.7
Canada.................... 2.5 1.7 2.9 3.3 2.0 3.9 1.3
Mexico (2)................ 9.2 16.3 5.8 3.3 4.3 5.2 5.6
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 4.8 3.7 5.3 2.8 3.7 3.6 6.4
Israel.................... 5.6 9.7 3.6 2.5 1.3 2.8 6.2
Japan..................... .8 1.2 .6 1.7 .5 -.2 1.8
Korea, Republic of........ 7.2 9.2 6.2 6.3 8.2 7.7 -.9
New Zealand............... 3.5 3.1 3.6 3.4 4.9 5.2 4.3
Philippines............... 7.5 5.5 8.4 8.7 15.4 3.6 6.8
Singapore................. 3.9 4.5 3.5 -1.0 -.6 7.6 12.2
Taiwan.................... 3.1 4.8 2.3 4.6 4.1 1.1 2.4
Europe
Austria................... 2.5 2.4 2.5 3.4 2.7 3.4 3.2
Belgium................... 2.9 3.2 2.7 2.4 2.7 2.0 3.5
Czech Republic............ 6.9 8.7 6.0 3.4 5.4 8.1 4.8
Denmark................... - - 3.6 3.5 4.3 5.7 1.3
Finland................... 3.9 3.1 4.4 3.7 3.6 2.5 5.4
France.................... 2.3 1.6 2.6 3.5 3.1 3.1 3.1
Germany................... - - 2.2 1.0 3.0 1.4 2.3
Greece.................... - - -5.7 -3.6 6.6 2.9 2.9
Hungary................... 11.2 15.4 9.2 7.1 7.2 10.4 6.0
Ireland................... 5.7 5.9 5.6 3.5 3.4 5.5 4.9
Italy..................... 3.2 1.9 3.8 2.9 2.5 2.8 3.4
Netherlands............... - - 3.7 2.2 2.1 1.6 3.8
Norway.................... - - 4.5 -.4 5.7 6.7 5.7
Poland.................... - - 5.7 3.4 5.2 9.6 10.1
Portugal.................. 3.8 3.7 3.8 2.9 3.1 2.8 4.2
Slovakia.................. - - 8.5 7.7 8.1 7.9 8.8
Spain..................... 4.1 3.2 4.5 3.4 4.3 3.8 5.2
Sweden.................... 4.0 3.4 4.2 .9 3.3 3.5 4.4
Switzerland............... 1.2 .6 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.5 1.8
United Kingdom............ 4.9 5.8 4.5 4.5 2.6 3.7 4.1
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. 4.2 - 3.7 3.2 3.1 3.6 3.5
OECD (3).................. 4.1 - 3.5 3.0 2.9 3.5 2.9
Europe (4)................ 3.5 - 3.4 2.6 2.9 2.9 3.5
Euro Area (5)............. 3.1 - 3.2 2.3 2.9 2.5 3.2
Eastern Europe (6)........ 8.5 - 7.1 5.1 6.3 9.2 7.5
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... 5.2 - 4.6 4.3 5.6 5.3 3.6
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) 1997-2008 data for Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia. 1998-2008
data for Germany. 2000-2008 data for Greece.
(2) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore,
and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-18-
Table 5. All Employees: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. dollars per
national currency unit), 33 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1996-2008
Country or Area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2005 2006 2007 2008
2008(1) 2000 2008
Americas
United States............. - - - - - - -
Argentina................. -9.2 .0 -13.4 .7 -4.9 -1.8 -1.7
Brazil.................... -4.9 -13.9 .0 20.2 12.0 11.7 6.2
Canada.................... 2.1 -2.1 4.2 7.4 6.8 5.6 .7
Mexico (2)................ -3.1 -5.3 -2.0 3.6 -.1 -.2 -1.9
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. .7 -7.2 4.9 3.6 -1.2 11.4 1.7
Israel.................... -.9 -5.9 1.7 -.1 .7 7.6 16.3
Japan..................... .4 .2 .5 -1.8 -5.3 -1.2 13.9
Korea, Republic of........ -2.6 -8.2 .4 11.9 7.3 2.7 -15.4
New Zealand............... .3 -9.7 5.8 6.1 -7.9 13.4 -2.9
Philippines............... -4.3 -12.3 -.1 1.7 7.5 11.0 3.8
Singapore................. .0 -4.9 2.5 1.6 4.8 5.4 6.5
Taiwan.................... -1.1 -3.2 -.1 3.9 -1.2 -1.1 4.2
Europe
Austria................... 1.0 -8.2 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Belgium................... 1.0 -8.2 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Czech Republic............ 3.9 -8.4 10.7 7.3 6.0 10.1 20.3
Denmark................... 2.4 - 6.0 -.1 .9 9.2 6.9
Finland................... 1.1 -8.1 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
France.................... 1.2 -7.9 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Germany................... 2.9 - 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Greece.................... 5.9 - 5.9 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Hungary................... -1.0 -14.2 6.4 1.6 -5.1 14.4 7.0
Ireland................... 1.3 -7.5 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Italy..................... 1.3 -7.4 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Netherlands............... 2.4 - 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Norway.................... 2.1 - 5.7 4.6 .5 9.5 3.9
Poland.................... 3.3 - 8.3 13.0 4.3 10.4 22.2
Portugal.................. 1.0 -8.2 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Slovakia.................. 4.3 - 10.3 4.0 4.8 18.8 18.4
Spain..................... 1.0 -8.4 6.0 .1 .9 9.1 7.4
Sweden.................... .2 -7.5 4.2 -1.6 1.3 9.1 2.6
Switzerland............... 1.1 -7.5 5.7 -.2 -.6 4.4 10.9
United Kingdom............ 1.4 -.7 2.6 -.6 1.3 8.5 -7.4
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. .2 - 2.6 3.5 2.1 5.0 3.1
OECD (3).................. .6 - 2.9 3.2 1.9 4.9 2.7
Europe (4)................ 1.8 - 5.5 .1 .9 8.9 5.3
Euro Area (5)............. 1.9 - 6.0 .1 .9 9.2 7.5
Eastern Europe (6)........ 2.4 - 8.7 7.3 2.2 12.7 17.1
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... -1.7 - .7 6.3 4.2 2.9 -3.0
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) 1997-2008 data for Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia. 1998-2008
data for Germany. 2000-2008 data for Greece.
(2) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore,
and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-19-
Table 6. All Employees: Hourly compensation costs in national currency units and
exchange rates, 33 countries or areas, 2008
Country or Area Compensation costs Exchange Rates
Americas
United States............. 32.26 1.000
Argentina................. 31.28 3.164
Brazil.................... 15.17 1.833
Canada.................... 34.85 1.066
Mexico (1)................ 44.98 11.14
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 43.20 1.171
Israel.................... 69.81 3.560
Japan..................... 2874 103.4
Korea, Republic of........ 17871 1099
New Zealand............... 27.17 1.398
Philippines............... 74.70 44.44
Singapore................. 26.55 1.414
Taiwan.................... 273.6 31.52
Europe
Austria................... 32.41 .6791
Belgium................... 32.01 .6791
Czech Republic............ 208.1 17.06
Denmark................... 260.9 5.089
Finland................... 30.34 .6791
France.................... 28.48 .6791
Germany................... 32.75 .6791
Greece.................... 13.30 .6791
Hungary................... 1643 171.8
Ireland................... 30.42 .6791
Italy..................... 24.29 .6791
Netherlands............... 30.09 .6791
Norway.................... 322.3 5.637
Poland.................... 23.17 2.300
Portugal.................. 8.30 .6791
Slovakia.................. 229.6 21.05
Spain..................... 18.81 .6791
Sweden.................... 285.3 6.585
Switzerland............... 46.81 1.082
United Kingdom............ 19.31 .5392
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
National currency units are: United States, dollar; Argentina, peso;
Brazil, real; Canada, dollar; Mexico, peso; Australia, dollar;
Israel, new shekel; Japan, yen; Korea, won; New Zealand, dollar;
Philippines, peso; Singapore, dollar; Taiwan, dollar; Austria, euro;
Belgium, euro; Czech Republic, koruna; Denmark, krone; Finland, euro;
France, euro; Germany, euro; Greece, euro; Hungary, forint; Ireland, euro;
Italy, euro; Netherlands, euro; Norway, krone; Poland, zloty;
Portugal, euro; Slovakia, koruna; Spain, euro; Sweden, krona;
Switzerland, franc; United Kingdom, pound.
Note: For data for all years 1996-2008, see the time-series tables associated with this
release at http://www.bls.gov/ilc.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-20-
Table 7. Production Workers: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing,
33 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2008
Country or Area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008
Americas
United States............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Brazil.................... - - - - - 18 18 21 24 27
Canada.................... 103 93 89 112 97 85 103 109 116 116
Mexico (1)................ 23 22 12 10 8 11 11 12 12 12
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 94 90 66 91 88 72 106 108 119 127
Hong Kong SAR (2)......... 12 16 14 22 28 28 24 24 23 23
Israel.................... 33 35 29 52 55 58 52 52 55 67
Japan..................... 48 56 49 84 135 110 90 84 79 90
Korea, Republic of........ 5 10 10 26 44 43 56 64 67 55
New Zealand............... 53 56 36 57 60 43 63 60 69 68
Philippines............... - - - - 5 4 4 4 5 5
Singapore................. 14 16 20 26 45 37 31 36 34 38
Sri Lanka................. 5 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3
Taiwan.................... 6 11 12 26 35 31 27 28 26 27
Europe
Austria................... 74 93 60 120 148 101 127 130 140 152
Belgium................... 93 121 64 120 149 102 131 133 141 154
Czech Republic............ - - - - 15 14 26 29 33 40
Denmark................... 101 112 63 123 144 109 147 153 168 178
Finland................... 81 88 64 139 132 90 122 126 134 147
France.................... 76 96 61 107 115 80 104 106 114 123
Germany................... - - - - 152 99 121 124 131 141
Hungary................... - - - - 15 12 22 22 27 29
Ireland................... 68 80 58 97 98 78 118 121 130 140
Italy..................... 76 85 60 121 97 74 103 105 112 122
Luxembourg................ 101 119 59 107 136 89 116 116 122 130
Netherlands............... 106 125 68 121 139 95 124 126 133 145
Norway.................... 143 141 88 151 147 114 156 164 182 193
Poland.................... - - - - - 14 19 21 24 32
Portugal.................. 27 23 13 27 33 25 32 33 35 38
Spain..................... 40 59 36 75 72 53 74 77 83 92
Sweden.................... 115 128 75 140 125 105 129 133 143 150
Switzerland............... 98 115 76 140 170 107 131 130 131 145
United Kingdom............ 53 76 48 82 79 85 105 107 116 109
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. 61 66 50 77 84 68 79 82 85 89
OECD (3).................. 68 73 55 85 91 74 86 89 93 97
Europe (4)................ 77 95 59 109 120 88 113 116 123 131
Euro Area (5)............. 81 99 60 114 128 88 115 117 124 135
Eastern Europe (6)........ - - - - - 14 22 23 27 34
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... 8 11 12 23 37 34 36 40 40 37
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-21-
Table 8. Production Workers: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing,
33 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2008
Country or Area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008
Americas
United States............. 6.19 9.67 12.76 14.88 17.24 19.73 23.60 23.94 25.13 25.65
Brazil.................... - - - - - 3.50 4.16 5.00 5.95 6.93
Canada.................... 6.40 9.02 11.39 16.62 16.80 16.78 24.29 26.12 29.08 29.78
Mexico (1)................ 1.43 2.16 1.55 1.54 1.43 2.16 2.65 2.82 2.99 3.12
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 5.79 8.74 8.47 13.56 15.23 14.15 25.06 25.94 29.98 32.49
Hong Kong SAR (2)......... 0.75 1.50 1.73 3.22 4.81 5.45 5.65 5.78 5.78 5.91
Israel.................... 2.02 3.41 3.66 7.70 9.41 11.38 12.29 12.53 13.87 17.13
Japan..................... 2.95 5.43 6.24 12.52 23.34 21.69 21.31 19.99 19.77 23.15
Korea, Republic of........ 0.33 0.98 1.26 3.80 7.55 8.54 13.20 15.32 16.95 14.20
New Zealand............... 3.27 5.44 4.55 8.48 10.28 8.39 14.98 14.47 17.26 17.48
Philippines............... - - - - 0.89 0.69 0.83 1.03 1.18 1.31
Singapore................. 0.85 1.56 2.58 3.83 7.74 7.34 7.39 8.74 8.50 9.83
Sri Lanka................. 0.28 0.22 0.28 0.35 0.48 0.48 0.54 0.57 0.61 0.68
Taiwan.................... 0.39 1.04 1.51 3.91 5.98 6.17 6.43 6.59 6.57 6.95
Europe
Austria................... 4.55 8.97 7.66 17.92 25.50 20.00 30.00 31.09 35.08 38.88
Belgium................... 5.76 11.74 8.21 17.85 25.70 20.15 30.83 31.89 35.45 39.42
Czech Republic............ - - - - 2.54 2.85 6.07 6.83 8.20 10.35
Denmark................... 6.23 10.83 8.03 18.29 24.87 21.45 34.70 36.53 42.12 45.74
Finland................... 5.01 8.52 8.22 20.64 22.69 17.73 28.69 30.06 33.64 37.64
France.................... 4.67 9.25 7.77 15.97 19.77 15.76 24.64 25.48 28.53 31.61
Germany................... - - - - 26.17 19.62 28.64 29.70 32.85 36.07
Hungary................... - - - - 2.53 2.36 5.18 5.26 6.69 7.52
Ireland................... 4.21 7.71 7.43 14.49 16.83 15.35 27.77 29.08 32.69 35.79
Italy..................... 4.70 8.21 7.67 18.01 16.71 14.53 24.35 25.19 28.25 31.37
Luxembourg................ 6.24 11.54 7.47 15.97 23.54 17.49 27.34 27.82 30.59 33.37
Netherlands............... 6.58 12.05 8.73 17.98 24.02 18.67 29.38 30.12 33.44 37.15
Norway.................... 8.87 13.68 11.27 22.41 25.37 22.51 36.90 39.15 45.68 49.54
Poland.................... - - - - - 2.81 4.49 4.97 6.05 8.26
Portugal.................. 1.70 2.21 1.64 4.01 5.73 4.85 7.46 7.82 8.78 9.83
Spain..................... 2.47 5.75 4.55 11.10 12.47 10.46 17.56 18.48 20.94 23.67
Sweden.................... 7.12 12.40 9.58 20.75 21.63 20.70 30.49 31.84 36.03 38.39
Switzerland............... 6.09 11.09 9.66 20.85 29.23 21.20 30.86 31.03 32.88 37.12
United Kingdom............ 3.28 7.35 6.08 12.18 13.55 16.68 24.70 25.60 29.09 27.86
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. 3.78 6.34 6.41 11.47 14.44 13.48 18.70 19.50 21.41 22.81
OECD (3).................. 4.21 7.03 7.06 12.58 15.71 14.49 20.37 21.20 23.33 24.78
Europe (4)................ 4.79 9.22 7.47 16.20 20.66 17.37 26.73 27.69 30.94 33.50
Euro Area (5)............. 4.98 9.54 7.69 16.93 22.05 17.40 27.06 28.04 31.24 34.53
Eastern Europe (6)........ - - - - - 2.68 5.15 5.58 6.85 8.61
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... 0.47 1.10 1.55 3.49 6.37 6.74 8.48 9.55 10.08 9.51
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-22-
Table 9. Production Workers: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in
U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 33 countries or areas and selected economic
groups, selected years, 1975-2008
Country or Area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2000- 2006 2007 2008
2008 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008
Americas
United States............. 4.4 9.3 5.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.7 3.3 1.4 4.9 2.1
Brazil.................... - - - - - - 3.5 8.9 20.1 19.0 16.5
Canada.................... 4.8 7.1 4.8 7.8 .2 .0 7.7 7.4 7.5 11.3 2.4
Mexico (1)................ 2.4 8.5 -6.3 -.2 -1.4 8.6 4.2 4.7 6.1 6.3 4.4
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 5.4 8.6 -.6 9.9 2.4 -1.5 12.1 10.9 3.5 15.6 8.4
Hong Kong SAR (2)......... 6.4 14.8 2.8 13.2 8.4 2.5 .7 1.0 2.4 -.1 2.3
Israel.................... 6.7 11.0 1.4 16.1 4.1 3.9 1.6 5.3 2.0 10.6 23.5
Japan..................... 6.4 13.0 2.8 14.9 13.3 -1.5 -.3 .8 -6.2 -1.1 17.1
Korea, Republic of........ 12.1 24.3 5.2 24.6 14.7 2.5 9.1 6.6 16.0 10.7 -16.2
New Zealand............... 5.2 10.7 -3.5 13.3 3.9 -4.0 12.3 9.6 -3.4 19.3 1.3
Philippines............... - - - - - -5.0 3.7 8.3 24.1 15.0 10.9
Singapore................. 7.7 12.9 10.6 8.2 15.1 -1.1 .1 3.7 18.2 -2.8 15.7
Sri Lanka................. 2.7 -5.0 5.2 4.7 6.4 .0 2.6 4.5 4.5 7.0 12.3
Taiwan.................... 9.1 21.8 7.6 21.0 8.9 .6 .8 1.5 2.4 -.3 5.7
Europe
Austria................... 6.7 14.5 -3.1 18.5 7.3 -4.7 8.5 8.7 3.6 12.8 10.8
Belgium................... 6.0 15.3 -6.9 16.8 7.6 -4.8 8.9 8.8 3.5 11.2 11.2
Czech Republic............ - - - - - 2.3 16.3 17.5 12.5 20.2 26.1
Denmark................... 6.2 11.7 -5.8 17.9 6.3 -2.9 10.1 9.9 5.3 15.3 8.6
Finland................... 6.3 11.2 -.7 20.2 1.9 -4.8 10.1 9.9 4.8 11.9 11.9
France.................... 6.0 14.6 -3.4 15.5 4.4 -4.4 9.4 9.1 3.4 12.0 10.8
Germany................... - - - - - -5.6 7.9 7.9 3.7 10.6 9.8
Hungary................... - - - - - -1.4 17.1 15.6 1.5 27.2 12.5
Ireland................... 6.7 12.9 -.7 14.3 3.0 -1.8 12.6 11.2 4.7 12.4 9.5
Italy..................... 5.9 11.8 -1.4 18.6 -1.5 -2.8 10.9 10.1 3.5 12.2 11.1
Luxembourg................ 5.2 13.1 -8.3 16.4 8.1 -5.8 9.3 8.4 1.7 10.0 9.1
Netherlands............... 5.4 12.9 -6.2 15.6 6.0 -4.9 9.5 9.0 2.5 11.0 11.1
Norway.................... 5.4 9.1 -3.8 14.7 2.5 -2.4 10.4 10.4 6.1 16.7 8.5
Poland.................... - - - - - - 9.8 14.4 10.5 21.9 36.5
Portugal.................. 5.5 5.4 -5.8 19.6 7.4 -3.3 9.0 9.2 4.9 12.2 12.0
Spain..................... 7.1 18.4 -4.6 19.5 2.4 -3.5 10.9 10.8 5.2 13.3 13.0
Sweden.................... 5.2 11.8 -5.0 16.7 .8 -.9 8.1 8.0 4.4 13.2 6.6
Switzerland............... 5.6 12.7 -2.7 16.6 7.0 -6.2 7.8 7.3 .5 6.0 12.9
United Kingdom............ 6.7 17.5 -3.7 14.9 2.2 4.2 8.2 6.6 3.6 13.7 -4.3
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. 5.4 11.4 .0 11.1 4.1 .5 6.1 6.4 5.3 8.8 6.7
OECD (3).................. 5.3 11.4 -.6 11.1 3.7 .4 6.8 6.6 4.6 9.2 5.9
Europe (4)................ 6.0 14.0 -3.9 16.4 4.5 -2.9 9.2 8.7 3.7 12.0 8.5
Euro Area (4)............. 6.1 13.9 -4.1 17.1 5.2 -4.4 9.4 9.0 3.7 11.5 10.6
Eastern Europe (5)........ - - - - - - 13.9 15.7 8.3 23.1 26.0
East Asia ex-Japan (6).... 8.9 18.5 6.3 17.3 11.4 1.1 3.8 4.1 11.9 4.2 .0
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-23-
Table 10. Production Workers: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in
national currency in manufacturing, 33 countries or areas and selected economic
groups, selected years, 1975-2008
Country or Area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2000- 2006 2007 2008
2008 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008
Americas
United States............. 4.4 9.3 5.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.7 3.3 1.4 4.9 2.1
Brazil.................... - - - - - - 9.6 8.9 7.2 6.5 9.7
Canada.................... 4.9 10.1 8.1 4.5 3.5 1.6 3.4 3.1 .7 5.4 1.7
Mexico (1)................ 25.8 22.5 51.8 61.1 16.2 17.3 7.2 6.9 6.2 6.5 6.4
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 6.7 11.6 9.6 7.5 3.4 3.4 6.2 5.7 4.8 3.8 6.5
Hong Kong SAR (2)......... 7.9 14.9 12.5 13.2 8.2 2.7 .7 1.0 2.2 .4 2.1
Israel.................... 38.6 68.3 200.9 29.2 12.8 10.4 3.5 3.5 1.3 2.8 6.2
Japan..................... 3.1 7.0 3.9 4.1 3.9 1.3 .1 .3 -.9 .1 2.8
Korea, Republic of........ 14.9 30.0 13.1 19.6 16.7 10.7 6.9 6.2 8.2 7.7 -.9
New Zealand............... 6.9 15.7 10.4 9.2 2.0 3.2 3.0 3.6 4.9 5.2 4.3
Philippines............... - - - - - 5.9 8.3 8.4 15.4 3.6 6.8
Singapore................. 6.0 10.6 11.2 4.1 9.6 2.9 -.6 1.2 12.9 -7.8 8.6
Sri Lanka................. 11.6 12.7 16.2 13.1 11.7 8.5 8.2 9.1 8.1 13.8 10.0
Taiwan.................... 8.5 20.5 9.8 11.8 8.5 4.0 1.4 1.6 3.6 .8 1.4
Europe
Austria................... 4.7 7.9 6.4 5.1 4.8 3.0 2.2 2.5 2.7 3.4 3.2
Belgium................... 5.1 10.1 7.3 4.1 4.9 3.0 2.6 2.6 2.5 1.9 3.5
Czech Republic............ - - - - - 10.3 5.8 6.1 6.1 9.2 4.8
Denmark................... 5.8 11.3 6.9 5.9 4.2 4.5 3.7 3.7 4.3 5.6 1.6
Finland................... 6.6 11.5 9.9 9.2 4.7 2.8 3.7 3.6 3.8 2.5 4.2
France.................... 6.1 14.3 12.3 4.5 2.5 2.6 3.0 2.9 2.5 2.6 3.2
Germany................... - - - - - 2.1 1.6 1.8 2.7 1.4 2.3
Hungary................... - - - - - 15.9 9.2 8.7 7.0 11.1 5.1
Ireland................... 7.3 14.6 13.2 4.6 3.7 4.5 6.0 4.9 3.8 3.0 1.9
Italy..................... 8.2 18.0 15.8 8.1 4.8 2.3 4.4 3.9 2.5 2.8 3.4
Luxembourg................ 4.3 8.0 5.6 3.8 5.4 2.0 3.0 2.3 .8 .7 1.6
Netherlands............... 3.7 7.6 3.9 2.5 3.3 2.9 3.1 2.8 1.6 1.7 3.4
Norway.................... 5.6 7.9 7.5 7.7 2.8 4.3 3.7 4.4 5.6 6.6 4.4
Poland.................... - - - - - - 3.5 5.7 6.0 10.4 11.7
Portugal.................. 11.0 20.7 20.5 15.2 8.5 4.2 2.6 3.0 3.9 2.8 4.2
Spain..................... 9.3 23.8 13.4 7.9 6.5 3.9 4.5 4.5 4.3 3.8 5.2
Sweden.................... 6.7 12.2 9.5 8.3 4.7 4.2 3.7 3.6 3.0 3.7 3.9
Switzerland............... 2.9 3.4 5.0 4.1 3.6 .7 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.5 1.8
United Kingdom............ 7.3 16.5 8.2 7.8 4.7 5.1 4.3 4.0 2.3 4.8 3.4
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. 9.3 14.2 18.2 15.1 6.8 5.1 3.8 3.6 3.1 3.7 3.5
OECD (3).................. 9.2 13.5 15.8 15.8 6.7 5.4 3.8 3.6 2.6 4.1 3.1
Europe (4)................ 5.6 11.7 8.3 5.5 4.3 3.1 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.9 3.1
Euro Area (5)............. 5.6 11.6 8.8 5.1 4.4 2.7 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.2 3.0
Eastern Europe (6)........ - - - - - - 6.0 6.7 6.3 10.3 7.7
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... 9.6 19.8 10.8 12.3 10.9 5.7 3.4 3.5 7.7 1.7 2.5
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-24-
Table 11. Production Workers: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. dollars
per national currency unit), 33 countries or areas and selected economic groups,
selected years, 1975-2008
Country or Area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2000- 2006 2007 2008
2008 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008
Americas
United States............. - - - - - - - - - - -
Brazil.................... - - - - - - -5.6 .0 12.0 11.7 6.2
Canada.................... -.1 -2.7 -3.1 3.2 -3.2 -1.6 4.2 4.2 6.8 5.6 .7
Mexico (1)................ -18.6 -11.5 -38.3 -38.0 -15.2 -7.5 -2.8 -2.0 -.1 -.2 -1.9
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. -1.3 -2.7 -9.3 2.2 -1.0 -4.7 5.6 4.9 -1.2 11.4 1.7
Hong Kong SAR (2)......... -1.4 -.1 -8.6 .0 .1 -.1 .0 .0 .1 -.4 .2
Israel.................... -23.0 -34.1 -66.3 -10.2 -7.7 -5.9 -1.9 1.7 .7 7.6 16.3
Japan..................... 3.2 5.6 -1.1 10.5 9.1 -2.7 -.4 .5 -5.3 -1.2 13.9
Korea, Republic of........ -2.5 -4.4 -6.9 4.2 -1.7 -7.4 2.0 .4 7.3 2.7 -15.4
New Zealand............... -1.6 -4.3 -12.6 3.7 1.9 -7.0 9.1 5.8 -7.9 13.4 -2.9
Philippines............... - - - - - -10.3 -4.3 -.1 7.5 11.0 3.8
Singapore................. 1.6 2.1 -.5 3.9 5.1 -3.9 .7 2.5 4.8 5.4 6.5
Sri Lanka................. -7.9 -15.7 -9.5 -7.5 -4.8 -7.8 -5.2 -4.2 -3.3 -6.0 2.1
Taiwan.................... .6 1.1 -2.0 8.2 .3 -3.3 -.5 -.1 -1.2 -1.1 4.2
Europe
Austria................... 1.9 6.1 -9.0 12.8 2.4 -7.5 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Belgium................... .9 4.7 -13.2 12.2 2.5 -7.6 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Czech Republic............ - - - - - -7.2 10.0 10.7 6.0 10.1 20.3
Denmark................... .4 .4 -11.9 11.4 2.0 -7.1 6.2 6.0 .9 9.2 6.9
Finland................... -.3 -.3 -9.7 10.1 -2.6 -7.4 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
France.................... -.1 .3 -14.0 10.5 1.8 -6.8 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Germany................... - - - - - -7.5 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Hungary................... - - - - - -14.9 7.2 6.4 -5.1 14.4 7.0
Ireland................... -.5 -1.5 -12.3 9.2 -.7 -6.1 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Italy..................... -2.1 -5.3 -14.8 9.8 -6.0 -4.9 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Luxembourg................ .9 4.7 -13.2 12.2 2.5 -7.6 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Netherlands............... 1.6 4.9 -9.8 12.7 2.6 -7.6 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Norway.................... -.2 1.1 -10.5 6.6 -.3 -6.4 6.5 5.7 .5 9.5 3.9
Poland.................... - - - - - - 6.1 8.3 4.3 10.4 22.2
Portugal.................. -5.0 -12.7 -21.9 3.8 -1.0 -7.1 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Spain..................... -2.0 -4.3 -15.9 10.8 -3.9 -7.1 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Sweden.................... -1.4 -.4 -13.2 7.8 -3.7 -4.9 4.2 4.2 1.3 9.1 2.6
Switzerland............... 2.7 9.0 -7.4 12.0 3.3 -6.9 6.3 5.7 -.6 4.4 10.9
United Kingdom............ -.5 .9 -11.0 6.6 -2.4 -.8 3.7 2.6 1.3 8.5 -7.4
Trade-Weighted Measures
All 32 Foreign Economies.. -3.0 -2.0 -12.3 -.5 -2.3 -4.4 2.3 2.7 2.1 4.9 3.1
OECD (3).................. -3.0 -1.6 -12.4 -.8 -2.6 -4.6 2.9 2.9 1.9 4.9 2.7
Europe (4)................ .3 2.2 -11.2 10.3 .2 -5.8 5.8 5.4 .9 8.9 5.2
Euro Area (5)............. .5 2.2 -11.8 11.4 .7 -7.0 6.2 6.0 .9 9.1 7.4
Eastern Europe (6)........ - - - - - - 7.5 8.4 1.8 11.6 16.9
East Asia ex-Japan (7).... -.5 -.9 -4.0 4.4 .5 -4.2 .4 .6 3.7 2.5 -2.7
Rates of change based on compound rate method.
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
(3) Refers to countries in this release that are members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
(4) Europe refers to the European countries in this release.
(5) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have adopted
the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2009.
(6) Eastern Europe refers to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
(7) East Asia ex-Japan includes Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
-25-
Table 12. Production Workers: Hourly compensation costs in national currency units
and exchange rates, 33 countries or areas, 2008
Country or Area Compensation costs Exchange Rates
Americas
United States............. 25.65 1.000
Brazil.................... 12.70 1.833
Canada.................... 31.75 1.066
Mexico (1)................ 34.80 11.14
Asia and Oceania
Australia................. 38.05 1.171
Hong Kong SAR (2)......... 46.01 7.786
Israel.................... 60.99 3.560
Japan..................... 2394 103.4
Korea, Republic of........ 15597 1099
New Zealand............... 24.45 1.398
Philippines............... 58.21 44.44
Singapore................. 13.90 1.414
Sri Lanka................. 73.82 108.3
Taiwan.................... 218.9 31.52
Europe
Austria................... 26.41 .6791
Belgium................... 26.77 .6791
Czech Republic............ 176.5 17.06
Denmark................... 232.8 5.089
Finland................... 25.56 .6791
France.................... 21.46 .6791
Germany................... 24.50 .6791
Hungary................... 1292 171.8
Ireland................... 24.30 .6791
Italy..................... 21.31 .6791
Luxembourg................ 22.66 .6791
Netherlands............... 25.23 .6791
Norway.................... 279.3 5.637
Poland.................... 19.00 2.300
Portugal.................. 6.67 .6791
Spain..................... 16.07 .6791
Sweden.................... 252.8 6.585
Switzerland............... 40.15 1.082
United Kingdom............ 15.02 .5392
Dash means data not available.
(1) For Mexico, NAICS 31-33 excludes NAICS 324 Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing.
(2) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
National currency units are: United States, dollar; Brazil, real;
Canada, dollar; Mexico, peso; Australia, dollar; Hong Kong SAR, dollar;
Israel, new shekel; Japan, yen; Republic of Korea, won; New Zealand, dollar;
Philippines, peso; Singapore, dollar; Sri Lanka, rupee; Taiwan, dollar;
Austria, euro; Belgium, euro; Czech Republic, koruna; Denmark, krone;
Finland, euro; France, euro; Germany, euro; Hungary, forint;
Ireland, euro; Italy, euro; Luxembourg, euro; Netherlands, euro;
Norway, krone; Poland, zloty; Portugal, euro; Spain, euro; Sweden, krona;
Switzerland, franc; United Kingdom, pound.
Note: For data for all years 1975-2008, see the supplementary tables to this
news release at http://www.bls.gov/ilc.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010.
United States Department of Labor
