News United States 

Department 

of Labor 

Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/fls USDL: 08-0093 

Technical information: (202) 691-5654 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EST 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, January 25, 2008 

 

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF HOURLY COMPENSATION 

COSTS IN MANUFACTURING, 2006 

Average hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing 

among 33 foreign economies were 82 percent of the U.S. level in 2006, increasing from 79 percent 

in 2005, according to data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. 

Compensation costs relative to the United States rose or remained unchanged in 30 of the 

economies covered in 2006. (See table 1.) For the first time, this news release contains data for all 

employees in addition to the series for production workers. (See discussion on page 6, table B, and 

table 7.) Both production worker and all employee data are introduced for the Philippines. The all 

employee series covers most of the countries included in the production worker series, but also 

introduces Argentina and Slovakia which are not included in the latter series. A note on China’s 

labor costs appears on page 4 of this release. 

In the United States, hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing were 

virtually unchanged at $23.82 in 2006. When measured in national currency terms, trade-weighted 

average costs increased 2.6 percent in the combined 33 foreign economies in 2006. The value of 

foreign currencies rose 2.0 percent against the U.S. dollar, resulting in a rise in hourly compensation 

costs in the foreign economies of 4.7 percent on a U.S. dollar basis. (See chart 1 and table A.) 

0

4

8

12

16

20

24

28

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Chart 1. Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for

production workers in manufacturing, 1975-2006

Europe 1

Canada

33 Foreign Economies 1

United States

Mexico

Asian NIEs 1,2

Hourly 

costs ($)

Japan

1 Trade-weighted average

2 The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

||||| |
- 2 - 

Compensation costs for production workers 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 on a U.S. dollar basis. Data on a U.S. dollar 

basis are calculated by dividing compensation costs in the national currency by the exchange rate 

(expressed as national currency units per U.S. dollar). Compensation costs on a U.S. dollar basis 

are often used as indicators of competitiveness of manufactured goods in world trade and are the 

focus of the following discussion. 

Compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing measured in U.S. dollars 

continued to rise in 2006 in most of the foreign economies—with only two countries, Japan and 

New Zealand, showing a decrease in costs. In addition, hourly compensation costs increased by 

less than one percent in two economies, Taiwan and Switzerland (0.2 percent and 0.6 percent, 

respectively). The rate of compensation increase in a trade-weighted average of the 33 foreign 

economies was 4.7 percent in 2006, below the 5.6 percent historical average for the series. (See 

table A and table 3.) 

1 For 2006, U.S. hourly compensation costs were $23.82. 

2 Trade-weighted average

Chart 2. Indexes of hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars

for production workers in manufacturing, 2006

(U.S. = 100)

United States 1 Canada Mexico Europe 2 Japan Asian NIEs 2 All 33 foreign 

economies 2

100

50

Although average costs in the United States continued to be higher than those in most of the 

economies covered outside of Europe, 14 of the 20 European countries covered had higher 

hourly compensation costs than the United States, in a few cases more than 40 percent higher. 

With the value of the euro remaining relatively stable against the U.S. dollar in 2006 (+0.9 

percent), European labor costs measured in U.S. dollars showed much weaker growth than in the 

earlier years of this decade. The only European countries to have double-digit growth in hourly 
- 3 - 

compensation costs on a U.S. dollar basis in 2006 were the Czech Republic and Poland (12.2 and 

10.5 percent, respectively), both of which also experienced stronger appreciation of their 

national currencies against the dollar than the euro did. 

Compensation costs in Europe, on average, continued to be almost $5 higher on a per hour 

basis than in the United States. However, there is great variation in the level of compensation 

costs among the European countries covered. For example, hourly compensation costs in Europe 

ranged from $4.99 in Poland to more than eight times that level in Norway ($41.05), the highest 

labor cost country in these comparisons. (See table 2.) 

Outside of Europe, only Canada and Australia had compensation costs higher than the 

United States when measured in U.S. dollars. In 2006, the lowest compensation costs relative to 

the United States were in Mexico and the Philippines (12 percent and 4 percent of the U.S. level, 

respectively). 

Annual percent changes in manufacturing compensation costs measured in U.S. dollars also 

varied considerably in 2006. Hourly compensation costs in Brazil, the Republic of Korea, the 

Philippines, and Singapore all showed double-digit growth in 2006 (17.8, 15.5, 16.2, and 17.1 

percent, respectively), boosted by an appreciation of their national currencies against the U.S. 

dollar. Japan and New Zealand were the only countries in these comparisons to show a decrease 

in hourly compensation costs measured in U.S. dollars (-6.2 and -3.3 percent, respectively), 

largely due to the depreciation of the Japanese yen and New Zealand dollar against the U.S. 

dollar. 

A note on the measures 

 The hourly compensation costs measures in this news release are based on statistics 

available to BLS as of September 2007. 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. 

 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 for some countries may have been revised in later updates to reflect new or 

revised data provided to BLS subsequent to this news release. See International 

Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs for Production Workers and All Employees in 

Manufacturing, 22 Manufacturing Industries at http://www.bls.gov/fls/flshcindnaics.htm for 

the most recent data. 

Exchange rates

 The trade-weighted 2.0 percent increase in the value of the currencies of the 33 foreign 

economies against the U.S. dollar was the smallest increase since 2002 (0.4 percent), but well 
- 4 - 

above the average annual change since 1975 (-3.4 percent). The currencies of most economies 

appreciated in 2006, while the currencies of only seven economies−Mexico, Australia, Japan, 

New Zealand, Taiwan, Hungary, and Switzerland −depreciated against the dollar. (See table 5.) 

 The movements of the foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar in 2006 had an influence 

on hourly manufacturing compensation costs measured in U.S. dollars. Hourly compensation 

costs on a national currency basis in the 33 foreign economies rose 2.6 percent. However, when 

adjusted for the appreciation of the foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar, this increase in 

costs was magnified to 4.7 percent. The effect that exchange rate changes can have on hourly 

compensation costs is particularly evident when comparing the labor costs of New Zealand with 

those of the United States. On a national currency basis, the increase in hourly compensation 

costs in New Zealand (4.9 percent) was greater than the increase in the United States (0.1 

percent). When adjusted for changes in exchange rates, however, the increase in costs on a U.S. 

dollar basis was significantly lower in New Zealand than in the United States (-3.3 percent 

versus 0.1 percent). 

China 

 Acknowledging the importance of China as one of the United States’ largest trading 

partners, BLS is including data for China in this release. Due to data limitations, data are 

presented separately and only for 2002-2004. 

 The compensation costs data presented for China are not directly comparable with the 

data for other countries found in this release. For a description of the methods used to 

construct the 2002 estimate and possible comparability issues, refer to Judith Banister’s 

August 2005 article in the Monthly Labor Review found on the BLS website at 

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/08/art3full.pdf. In general the methods used to update 

the hourly compensation costs data to 2003 and 2004 are the same as the methods used in 

the Banister article and are described in a November 2006 article of the Monthly Labor 

Review at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/11/art4full.pdf. 

China: Hourly Compensation Costs for All Employees in Manufacturing, 2002-2004

Year National currency 

basis 

(Yuan) 

U.S. dollar basis 

(US$) 

Index 

(United States = 100) 

2002 4.73 0.57 3 

2003 5.17 0.62 3 

2004 5.50 0.67 3 
- 5 - 

Table A. Hourly compensation costs, in national currency and in U.S. 

dollars, for production workers in manufacturing and exchange rates 

(U.S. dollars per national currency unit) 

Percent change, 2005-2006 

Country or area 

Hourly 

compensation,

national 

currency 

Exchange 

rates 

Hourly 

compensation, 

U.S. 

dollars 

Americas 

United States 0.1 - 0.1 

Brazil 5.2 12.0 17.8 

Canada .4 6.9 7.3 

Mexico 4.5 -.2 4.3 

Asia and Oceania 

Australia 5.4 -1.2 4.1 

Hong Kong SAR 1 2.2 .1 2.4 

Israel 4.5 .7 5.2 

Japan -.9 -5.3 -6.2 

Korea, Republic of 7.7 7.3 15.5 

New Zealand 4.9 -7.9 -3.3 

Philippines 8.1 7.5 16.2 

Singapore 11.7 4.8 17.1 

Sri Lanka - - - 

Taiwan 1.4 -1.2 .2 

Europe 

Austria 2.8 .9 3.8 

Belgium 2.5 .9 3.5 

Czech Republic 5.8 6.0 12.2 

Denmark 2.0 .9 2.9 

Finland 4.4 .9 5.4 

France 2.8 .9 3.8 

Germany 1.7 .9 2.6 

Greece 

Hungary 

 4.2 

 8.2 

 .9 

 -5.1 

 5.2 

 2.7 

Ireland 6.5 .9 7.5 

Italy 2.5 .9 3.5 

Luxembourg .8 .9 1.7 

Netherlands .7 .9 1.7 

Norway 4.3 .5 4.8 

Poland 6.0 4.3 10.5 

Portugal 4.2 .9 5.2 

Spain 4.2 .9 5.1 

Sweden 3.0 1.3 4.4 

Switzerland 1.1 -.6 .6 

United Kingdom 4.0 1.3 5.3 

Trade-weighted measures 2

All 33 foreign economies 2.6 2.0 4.7 

OECD 3 2.3 1.9 4.2 

Europe 2.9 .9 3.9 

Asian NIEs 4 5.8 3.4 9.5 

1

 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. 

2

 The 2005-2006 percent changes for the trade-weighted measures are based upon the 

changes for the countries or areas for which 2006 data are available. 3

 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

4

 Asian NIEs refer to Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 
- 6 - 

Compensation costs for all employees

For the first time, this news release contains hourly compensation costs data for all employees in 

manufacturing in addition to the data for production workers. The all employee series begins with data 

for 1996. Production workers generally include those employees who are engaged in fabricating, 

assembly, and related activities. 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 9 for more 

detailed definitions of production workers and all employees.) The all employee series includes data 

for Argentina and Slovakia, two countries not covered by the production worker hourly compensation 

costs. Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka, Greece, and Luxembourg are not included in the all employee 

series as comparable data are not available. 

As the final column in Table B shows, hourly compensation costs for all employees are higher 

than those for production workers in each economy covered by the two series, generally ranging from 

10 percent to 25 percent higher than production worker hourly compensation costs. The difference 

between the two series depends not only upon the higher compensation of non-production workers 

than production workers, but also on the relative employment levels of the two worker groups; 

typically the larger the portion of all employees accounted for by production workers, the smaller the 

gap in compensation costs. 

In the United States, hourly compensation costs for all employees in manufacturing were $29.60 

in 2006, 24 percent higher than production worker compensation costs. Only 7 of the 28 foreign 

economies covered by both the production worker and all employee hourly compensation costs series 

had a larger difference between the compensation levels of the two groups than the United States. 

Although Australia was the only non-European economy to have higher hourly compensation 

costs than the United States in 2006 for all employees when measured in U.S. dollars ($30.10), 12 of 

18 European countries had higher compensation costs than the United States. The hourly 

compensation costs of both the new countries in the series, Argentina and Slovakia, were 22 percent of 

the United States level. 

Since high labor costs countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have 

smaller than average gaps between production worker and all employee hourly compensation costs, the 

range of European compensation costs narrowed when measured on an all employees basis (21 percent 

to 172 percent of the United States level for production workers versus 21 percent to 156 percent of the 

United States level for all employees). 

Measuring compensation costs on an all employees basis changes the position of some countries 

relative to the United States. For example, production worker compensation costs in Italy were 5 

percent higher than in the United States for 2006. However, the gap between production worker and 

all employee hourly compensation costs is much lower in Italy than in the United States (15 percent 

versus 24 percent in 2006), so when compensation costs are measured on all employee basis, Italy’s 

costs are about 3 percent lower than the United States. 

 
- 7 - 

Table B. Hourly Compensation Costs of Production Workers and All Employees 

in Manufacturing, 2006 

US=100 US$ 

Country or area Production 

Workers 

All 

Employees 

Production 

Workers 

All 

Employees 

All Employees 

(Production 

Workers= 

100) 

Americas 

United States 100 100 23.82 29.60 124 

Argentina - 22 - 6.57 - 

Brazil 21 20 4.91 5.90 120 

Canada 108 98 25.74 29.00 113 

 Mexico 12 13 2.75 3.72 135 

Asia and Oceania 

Australia 110 102 26.14 30.10 115 

Hong Kong SAR1 24 - 5.78 - - 

Israel 54 49 12.98 14.37 111 

Japan 85 82 20.20 24.40 121 

Korea, Republic of 62 57 14.72 16.87 115 

New Zealand 61 54 14.47 16.08 111 

Philippines 4 5 1.07 1.36 127 

Singapore 36 46 8.55 13.55 158 

Sri Lanka - - - - - 

Taiwan 27 27 6.43 7.95 124 

Europe 

Austria 128 124 30.46 36.70 120 

Belgium 134 123 31.85 36.35 114 

Czech Republic 28 - 6.77 - - 

Denmark 149 129 35.45 38.21 108 

Finland 126 119 29.90 35.26 118 

France 105 114 24.90 33.73 135 

Germany 144 139 34.21 41.04 120 

Greece 68 - 16.10 - - 

Hungary 26 28 6.29 8.39 133 

Ireland 109 105 25.96 30.99 119 

Italy 105 97 25.07 28.71 115 

Luxembourg 116 - 27.74 - - 

Netherlands 136 119 32.34 35.34 109 

Norway 172 156 41.05 46.31 113 

Poland 21 21 4.99 6.26 125 

Portugal 32 32 7.65 9.54 125 

Slovakia - 22 - 6.53 - 

Spain 79 74 18.83 22.05 117 

Sweden 133 116 31.80 34.21 108 

Switzerland 129 121 30.67 35.68 116 

United Kingdom 114 114 27.10 33.71 124 

1

 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. 
- 8 - 

Additional data available

 In addition to the compensation cost measures covered in this news release, supplementary tables 

om 

 BLS also computes comparative measures for 22 component manufacturing industries. Data for 

t 

he 

 For further information, contact the Office of Productivity and Technology by phone at 202-691-

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. 

Voic

This material is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without 

perm or 

are available for comparative levels of hourly compensation costs, hourly direct pay, pay for time 

worked, and the structure of compensation for production workers in manufacturing for all years fr

1975 through 2006, and for all employees in manufacturing for all years from 1996 to 2006. Data also 

are available for national currency hourly compensation and exchange rates in the supplementary 

tables (http://www.bls.gov/fls). 

the component industries are not included in this release; in general, the data limitations for the 

component industries are greater than for total manufacturing. Data are available via the Interne

(http://www.bls.gov/fls). This series is updated several times per year as data become available. T

data for component industries currently are available on a North American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) basis from 1992 to 2005. 

5654, by e-mail at flshc@bls.gov, or by mail at Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, 

NE, Room 2150, Washington, DC 20212. 

e phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339. 

ission. It may be translated into foreign languages without permission, with a separate credit f

the translation. 
- 9 - 

TECHNICAL NOTES 

 

 The tables in this news release present international comparisons of hourly compensation 

costs for production workers and all employees 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, the comparisons 

based on the more readily available average earnings statistics published by many countries can 

be 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 compensation measures in this news release are based on statistics available to BLS as of 

September 2007. These measures may be revised as data are collected to update compensation 

measures for component industries. Data for component industries are available at 

http://www.bls.gov/fls/flshcindnaics.htm. 

 For the first time, this news release contains data for all employees in addition to the series 

for production workers. The production worker series starts in 1975 and the all employee series 

in 1996. In addition, production worker and all employee data are introduced for the Philippines 

and all employee data are introduced for Argentina and Slovakia. 

Definitions 

 Hourly compensation costs include (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 pay for time worked and other direct 

pay. Social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes include employer expenditures for 

legally required insurance programs, contractual and private benefit plans, and other labor taxes. 

Other labor taxes refer to 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. 

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. 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 many countries. The labor costs 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 

are considered employed if they receive pay for any part of the specified pay period. The selfemployed, unpaid family workers, and workers in private households are also excluded.
- 10 - 

Hourly Compensation Costs 

Hourly Direct Pay 

Pay for Time Worked Other Direct Pay 

Employer Social Insurance 

Expenditures (both legally 

required and contractual and 

private) and Other Labor Taxes

• Basic wages 

• Piece rate 

• Overtime premiums 

• Shift differentials 

• Bonuses and premiums paid 

regularly 

• Cost-of-living adjustments 

• Pay for time not worked 

(vacations, holidays, and 

other leave, except sick 

leave) 

• Seasonal and irregular 

bonuses 

• Social allowances 

• Pay in kind 

• Retirement and disability 

pensions 

• Health insurance 

• Income guarantee insurance 

and sick leave 

• Life and accident insurance 

• Occupational injury and 

illness compensation 

• Unemployment insurance 

• Family allowances 

• 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 supplementary tables to this news release at 

http://www.bls.gov/fls/hcompsupptabtoc.htm. 

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 or from 

surveys or censuses of manufactures. These surveys typically cover firms with a minimum of 

one to ten employees. 

For most countries, adjustment factors are obtained from periodic labor cost surveys or 

censuses of manufacturers and interpolated or projected to non-survey years on the basis of other 

information. Generally, these surveys cover all employees in the establishment; survey data are 

used in 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 from labor 

bulletins, 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. 
- 11 - 

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 can be found in “Country Notes and 

Sources” located at www.bls.gov/fls. 

Exchange Rates and Currencies 

Hourly compensation costs are converted to U.S. dollars using the average daily exchange 

rate for the reference period. 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. 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 data on hourly compensation costs are reported in euros and exchange rates for 

the EMU countries relate to euros per dollar for 1999 to the present; for the years 1975-1998, 

hourly compensation data are published in the old national currencies used in each country 

before the adoption of the euro. In order to include data on trends in national currency 

compensation costs and exchange rates for the entire time period, BLS converts national 

currency for 1975-1998 to a “euro” basis for calculation. The conversions for all years 1975-

1998 are made using the official fixed conversion rates for 1999, with the exception of Greece 

which uses the official fixed conversion rate for 2001. 

Industrial classification 

The hourly compensation measures relate to manufacturing on a North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) basis. 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, for 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 the United Nations Industrial 

Statistics Database, the International Labor Office (ILO), and other sources. 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 
- 12 - 

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 in manufactured 

commodities (exports plus imports) with each country or area in 2004. (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 2004 are China, India, Malaysia, and Thailand. 

Hourly compensation costs data for China are included in this report in a special text box. In 

addition, an article on manufacturing compensation costs in China is available on the BLS 

website at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/11/art4full.pdf. The compensation data on China 

are not directly comparable with the data for other countries found in this news release. 

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 12 European Union member countries in this release that have adopted the euro as 

the common currency as of January 1, 2001 (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, 

Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain). The group labeled 

"Europe" consists of the members of the Euro Area and the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, 

Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The group labeled 

"Asian NIEs" consists of the four newly industrialized economies of Hong Kong SAR, the 

Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

The trade-weighted measures relate to all the countries or areas covered in the series. If data 

for the most recent year(s) are missing for a country, trade-weighted estimates are computed 

using the average percent change of all the other economies in the series to estimate the missing 

year(s). An economy is included in trade-weight series beginning with the start year of that 

economy’s data series. 

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; the trade-weighted average 

hourly compensation costs are computed as the trade-weighted arithmetic average of cost levels 

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.
- 13 - 

Share of total U.S. imports and exports of manufactured products in 2004 

(in percent) 

 

Country or area and 

economic group 

 2004 trade 

share 

Country or area and 

economic group 

2004 trade 

share 

 

Argentina............. 0.3 Greece............ 0.1 

Brazil.................. 1.7 Hungary........... 0.2 

Canada................ 20.0 Ireland............. 1.9 

Mexico................ 12.5 Italy................ 2.0 

 Luxembourg...... 0.1 

Australia............. 1.1 Netherlands...... 1.8 

Hong Kong SAR 1.. 1.3 Norway............ 0.2 

Israel................. 1.2 Poland............. 0.1 

Japan................. 9.4 Portugal........... 0.2 

Korea, Republic of 3.7 Slovakia.......... 0.1 

New Zealand......... 0.2 Spain.............. 0.7 

Philippines........... 0.8 Sweden........... 0.8 

Singapore............ 1.8 Switzerland...... 1.0 

Sri Lanka............ 0.1 United Kingdom 3.8 

Taiwan............... 2.9 

 

Austria............... 0.4 Economic Groups 2 

Belgium............. 1.5 33 Foreign 

Czech Republic... 0.1 Economies...... 75.5 

Denmark............ 0.3 OECD 3.............. 66.2 

Finland.............. 0.3 Europe.............. 22.4 

France............... 2.7 Euro Area 4..... 16.1 

Germany ............ 5.6 Asian NIEs......... 9.1 

1

 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. 

2 Trade shares for Economic Groups refer to the country coverage of the production worker series. The relevant 

trade shares for the all employee series are: 31 Foreign Economies, 74.4; OECD, 66.1; Europe, 22.3; Euro Area, 

15.9; Asian NIEs, 7.9. 

3

 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

4

 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, 2001. 

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 component industries. In the United States and some 
- 14 - 

other countries, such as Mexico and Taiwan, differentials in hourly compensation cost levels by 

industry are fairly wide. 

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 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 (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. 

 
- 15 - 

International Comparison of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing, 2006

List of Tables 

Page 16 Table 1. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in 

manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected 

years, 1975-2006 

Page 17 Table 2. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars 

in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected 

years, 1975-2006 

Page 18 Table 3. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly 

compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and 

selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

Page 19 Table 4. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly 

compensation costs in national currency in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas 

and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

Page 20 Table 5. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in exchange rates 

(U.S. dollars per national currency unit), 34 countries or areas and selected 

economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

Page 21 Table 6. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in national 

currency in manufacturing and exchange rates, 34 countries or areas, 2006 

Page 22 Table 7. ALL EMPLOYEES: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in 

manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected 

years, 1996-2006 

Page 23 Table 8. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in 

manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected 

years, 1996-2006 

Page 24 Table 9. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly compensation 

costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected 

economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006 

Page 25 Table 10. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly compensation 

costs in national currency in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected 

economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006 

Page 26 Table 11. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. 

dollars per national currency unit), 32 countries or areas and selected economic 

groups, selected years, 1996-2006 

Page 27 Table 12. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in national currency in 

manufacturing and exchange rates, 32 countries or areas, 2006. 
-16- 

 

 Table 1. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, 

 34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

 Country or area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 

 BRAZIL.................... - - - - - 18 12 14 17 21 

 CANADA.................... 99 92 88 110 96 84 87 94 101 108 

 MEXICO.................... 24 23 12 11 10 11 11 11 11 12 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 91 88 64 88 89 73 88 101 105 110 

 HONG KONG SAR (1)......... 12 16 14 22 28 28 25 24 24 24 

 ISRAEL.................... 33 35 29 52 55 58 52 52 52 54 

 JAPAN..................... 48 57 49 85 137 112 90 95 90 85 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 5 10 10 25 42 42 43 47 54 62 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 53 56 36 57 60 43 52 59 63 61 

 PHILIPPINES............... - - - - 5 4 4 4 4 4 

 SINGAPORE................. 14 16 20 26 45 37 32 32 31 36 

 SRI LANKA................. 5 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 - 

 TAIWAN.................... 6 11 12 26 35 32 25 26 27 27 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 73 92 60 120 147 97 113 123 123 128 

 BELGIUM................... 94 122 65 120 150 102 118 130 129 134 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - 15 15 21 24 25 28 

 DENMARK................... 101 112 63 123 146 109 132 146 145 149 

 FINLAND................... 82 89 65 141 132 91 108 120 119 126 

 FRANCE.................... 73 92 59 104 112 79 92 101 101 105 

 GERMANY................... - - - - 175 115 133 143 140 144 

 GREECE.................... 27 39 29 45 53 39 53 63 64 68 

 HUNGARY................... - - - - 16 14 21 25 26 26 

 IRELAND................... 57 67 49 82 82 68 88 98 101 109 

 ITALY..................... 75 84 60 119 96 74 90 102 102 105 

 LUXEMBOURG................ 101 119 58 107 137 89 102 113 115 116 

 NETHERLANDS............... 107 125 69 121 140 98 122 133 134 136 

 NORWAY.................... 112 123 82 147 145 115 146 157 165 172 

 POLAND.................... - - - - - 14 16 17 19 21 

 PORTUGAL.................. 25 21 12 24 30 23 28 30 31 32 

 SPAIN..................... 41 61 36 76 74 54 67 75 75 79 

 SWEDEN.................... 115 129 75 140 126 105 118 130 128 133 

 SWITZERLAND............... 98 114 75 139 168 107 124 131 128 129 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 54 78 49 84 80 86 95 107 108 114 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 33 Foreign Economies 

 (2,3)................... 62 68 52 80 87 69 72 78 79 82 

 OECD (4).................. 67 73 56 85 92 74 78 85 86 90 

 Europe.................... 80 99 61 114 124 91 107 117 117 121 

 Euro Area (5)............. 82 101 62 117 132 92 109 119 119 123 

 Asian NIEs (6)............ 8 12 13 25 39 36 33 35 37 42 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) Average of selected manufacturing industries. 

 (2) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (3) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly 

 comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (4) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (6) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-17- 

 Table 2. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 

 34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

 Country or area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 6.16 9.63 12.71 14.81 17.17 19.65 22.48 23.13 23.81 23.82 

 BRAZIL.................... - - - - - 3.50 2.74 3.14 4.16 4.91 

 CANADA.................... 6.11 8.87 11.20 16.33 16.50 16.48 19.60 21.85 23.98 25.74 

 MEXICO.................... 1.46 2.20 1.59 1.57 1.70 2.07 2.44 2.44 2.64 2.75 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 5.60 8.44 8.18 13.09 15.36 14.41 19.79 23.38 25.11 26.14 

 HONG KONG SAR (1)......... 0.75 1.50 1.73 3.22 4.80 5.45 5.54 5.51 5.65 5.78 

 ISRAEL.................... 2.02 3.41 3.65 7.69 9.41 11.41 11.62 12.01 12.34 12.98 

 JAPAN..................... 2.97 5.46 6.27 12.59 23.47 21.93 20.32 21.95 21.54 20.20 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 0.32 0.95 1.23 3.70 7.29 8.23 9.69 10.81 12.74 14.72 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 3.27 5.44 4.55 8.48 10.35 8.38 11.69 13.65 14.97 14.47 

 PHILIPPINES............... - - - - 0.94 0.77 0.79 0.84 0.92 1.07 

 SINGAPORE................. 0.84 1.54 2.55 3.78 7.65 7.30 7.23 7.47 7.30 8.55 

 SRI LANKA................. 0.28 0.22 0.28 0.35 0.48 0.48 0.51 0.52 0.54 - 

 TAIWAN.................... 0.38 1.03 1.51 3.91 5.99 6.19 5.69 5.98 6.42 6.43 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 4.50 8.87 7.57 17.72 25.26 19.12 25.42 28.39 29.36 30.46 

 BELGIUM................... 5.76 11.74 8.21 17.85 25.68 20.13 26.55 30.01 30.79 31.85 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - 2.53 3.01 4.72 5.45 6.04 6.77 

 DENMARK................... 6.23 10.83 8.03 18.29 25.02 21.43 29.63 33.68 34.45 35.45 

 FINLAND................... 5.06 8.61 8.30 20.84 22.60 17.84 24.35 27.80 28.38 29.90 

 FRANCE.................... 4.49 8.90 7.47 15.35 19.24 15.43 20.74 23.29 24.00 24.90 

 GERMANY................... - - - - 30.10 22.67 29.93 33.09 33.34 34.21 

 GREECE.................... 1.69 3.72 3.65 6.69 9.05 7.67 11.86 14.65 15.31 16.10 

 HUNGARY................... - - - - 2.69 2.74 4.79 5.68 6.13 6.29 

 IRELAND................... 3.51 6.44 6.22 12.11 14.14 13.28 19.79 22.67 24.15 25.96 

 ITALY..................... 4.64 8.09 7.56 17.68 16.53 14.47 20.29 23.57 24.23 25.07 

 LUXEMBOURG................ 6.21 11.48 7.43 15.90 23.45 17.41 22.83 26.18 27.26 27.74 

 NETHERLANDS............... 6.58 12.05 8.73 17.98 24.03 19.35 27.52 30.82 31.80 32.34 

 NORWAY.................... 6.90 11.80 10.47 21.76 24.84 22.56 32.73 36.41 39.17 41.05 

 POLAND.................... - - - - - 2.81 3.52 3.84 4.51 4.99 

 PORTUGAL.................. 1.53 1.99 1.48 3.61 5.14 4.49 6.18 6.96 7.27 7.65 

 SPAIN..................... 2.52 5.86 4.64 11.30 12.70 10.66 15.14 17.25 17.92 18.83 

 SWEDEN.................... 7.12 12.40 9.58 20.75 21.62 20.68 26.42 30.08 30.46 31.80 

 SWITZERLAND............... 6.03 10.96 9.55 20.63 28.89 20.95 27.79 30.21 30.50 30.67 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 3.35 7.52 6.22 12.46 13.71 16.84 21.29 24.82 25.72 27.10 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 33 Foreign Economies 

 (2,3)................... 3.83 6.51 6.62 11.85 14.88 13.57 16.15 17.94 18.82 19.58 

 OECD (4).................. 4.14 7.01 7.08 12.62 15.87 14.62 17.59 19.59 20.55 21.35 

 Europe.................... 4.91 9.53 7.74 16.82 21.25 17.85 23.97 27.04 27.75 28.76 

 Euro Area (5)............. 5.04 9.70 7.84 17.30 22.70 18.04 24.55 27.57 28.24 29.21 

 Asian NIEs (6)............ 0.49 1.16 1.62 3.71 6.64 7.08 7.50 8.05 8.91 9.93 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) Average of selected manufacturing industries. 

 (2) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (3) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly 

 comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (4) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (6) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-18- 

 Table 3. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in 

 U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic 

 groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

 Country or area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2004 2005 2006 

 2006(1) 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 4.5 9.3 5.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.3 2.9 2.9 .1 

 BRAZIL.................... - - - - - - 5.8 14.6 32.5 17.8 

 CANADA.................... 4.7 7.7 4.8 7.8 .2 .0 7.7 11.5 9.8 7.3 

 MEXICO.................... 2.1 8.5 -6.3 -.2 1.5 4.0 4.9 .0 8.1 4.3 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 5.1 8.6 -.6 9.9 3.3 -1.3 10.4 18.1 7.4 4.1 

 HONG KONG SAR (2)......... 6.8 14.8 2.8 13.2 8.3 2.6 1.0 -.6 2.6 2.4 

 ISRAEL.................... 6.2 11.0 1.4 16.1 4.1 3.9 2.2 3.4 2.7 5.2 

 JAPAN..................... 6.4 13.0 2.8 14.9 13.3 -1.3 -1.4 8.0 -1.8 -6.2 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 13.1 24.3 5.2 24.6 14.6 2.4 10.2 11.5 17.8 15.5 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 4.9 10.7 -3.5 13.3 4.1 -4.1 9.5 16.8 9.7 -3.3 

 PHILIPPINES............... - - - - - -4.1 5.8 6.7 9.5 16.2 

 SINGAPORE................. 7.8 12.9 10.6 8.2 15.1 -.9 2.7 3.3 -2.3 17.1 

 SRI LANKA................. 2.2 -5.0 5.2 4.7 6.4 .0 - 1.9 4.7 - 

 TAIWAN.................... 9.5 21.8 8.0 21.0 8.9 .7 .6 4.9 7.5 .2 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 6.4 14.5 -3.1 18.5 7.4 -5.4 8.1 11.7 3.4 3.8 

 BELGIUM................... 5.7 15.3 -6.9 16.8 7.5 -4.8 8.0 13.1 2.6 3.5 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - - 3.5 14.5 15.4 10.8 12.2 

 DENMARK................... 5.8 11.7 -5.8 17.9 6.5 -3.0 8.7 13.7 2.3 2.9 

 FINLAND................... 5.9 11.2 -.7 20.2 1.6 -4.6 9.0 14.2 2.1 5.4 

 FRANCE.................... 5.7 14.6 -3.4 15.5 4.6 -4.3 8.3 12.3 3.1 3.8 

 GERMANY................... - - - - - -5.5 7.1 10.6 .7 2.6 

 GREECE.................... 7.6 17.2 -.4 12.9 6.2 -3.3 13.2 23.5 4.5 5.2 

 HUNGARY................... - - - - - .4 14.8 18.7 7.8 2.7 

 IRELAND................... 6.7 12.9 -.7 14.2 3.1 -1.2 11.8 14.6 6.5 7.5 

 ITALY..................... 5.6 11.8 -1.3 18.5 -1.3 -2.6 9.6 16.1 2.8 3.5 

 LUXEMBOURG................ 4.9 13.1 -8.3 16.4 8.1 -5.8 8.1 14.7 4.1 1.7 

 NETHERLANDS............... 5.3 12.9 -6.2 15.6 6.0 -4.2 8.9 12.0 3.2 1.7 

 NORWAY.................... 5.9 11.3 -2.4 15.8 2.7 -1.9 10.5 11.2 7.6 4.8 

 POLAND.................... - - - - - - 10.0 9.3 17.3 10.5 

 PORTUGAL.................. 5.3 5.4 -5.8 19.6 7.3 -2.7 9.3 12.5 4.5 5.2 

 SPAIN..................... 6.7 18.4 -4.6 19.5 2.4 -3.4 10.0 14.0 3.9 5.1 

 SWEDEN.................... 4.9 11.8 -5.0 16.7 .8 -.9 7.4 13.8 1.3 4.4 

 SWITZERLAND............... 5.4 12.7 -2.7 16.7 7.0 -6.2 6.6 8.7 1.0 .6 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 7.0 17.5 -3.7 14.9 1.9 4.2 8.2 16.6 3.6 5.3 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 33 Foreign Economies 

 (3,4)................... 5.6 12.1 .2 11.6 4.9 -.2 6.0 9.2 6.4 4.7 

 OECD (5).................. 5.4 11.7 -.4 11.2 4.4 -.3 6.5 9.7 6.0 4.2 

 Europe.................... 6.0 14.3 -3.9 16.6 4.5 -2.7 8.5 13.2 2.9 3.9 

 Euro Area (6)............. 5.9 13.9 -4.0 17.0 5.1 -4.2 8.6 12.6 2.7 3.6 

 Asian NIEs (7)............ 10.2 20.2 6.7 19.0 12.2 1.3 4.7 6.5 9.0 9.5 

 Rates of change based on compound rate method. 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) 1975-2005 for Sri Lanka. 

 (2) Average of selected manufacturing industries. 

 (3) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (4) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly 

 comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (6) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have 

 adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001. 

 (7) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-19- 

 Table 4. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in 

 national currency in manufacturing, 34 countries or areas and selected economic 

 groups, selected years, 1975-2006 

 Country or area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2004 2005 2006 

 2006(1) 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 4.5 9.3 5.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.3 2.9 2.9 .1 

 BRAZIL.................... - - - - - - 8.8 9.0 10.3 5.2 

 CANADA.................... 5.1 10.8 8.1 4.5 3.5 1.6 3.0 3.6 2.2 .4 

 MEXICO.................... 27.0 22.5 51.8 61.1 19.7 12.4 7.4 4.6 4.3 4.5 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 7.0 11.6 9.6 7.5 4.3 3.6 5.8 4.6 3.7 5.4 

 HONG KONG SAR (2)......... 8.4 14.9 12.5 13.2 8.2 2.7 .9 -.6 2.4 2.2 

 ISRAEL.................... 41.3 68.3 200.9 29.2 12.8 10.4 3.7 1.8 2.9 4.5 

 JAPAN..................... 3.2 7.0 3.9 4.1 3.8 1.4 -.1 .8 -.1 -.9 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 15.6 30.0 13.1 19.6 16.5 10.6 7.1 7.1 5.4 7.7 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 7.0 15.7 10.4 9.2 2.1 3.1 3.3 2.3 3.4 4.9 

 PHILIPPINES............... - - - - - 6.9 8.4 10.3 7.7 8.1 

 SINGAPORE................. 6.4 10.6 11.2 4.1 9.6 3.0 1.3 .2 -3.8 11.7 

 SRI LANKA................. 11.7 12.7 16.2 13.1 11.7 8.5 - 6.8 3.9 - 

 TAIWAN.................... 9.0 20.5 10.2 11.8 8.5 4.1 1.3 1.8 3.5 1.4 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 4.8 7.9 6.4 5.1 4.9 2.3 2.7 1.7 3.3 2.8 

 BELGIUM................... 5.2 10.1 7.3 4.1 4.9 3.0 2.6 2.9 2.5 2.5 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - - 11.6 4.7 5.2 3.3 5.8 

 DENMARK................... 5.9 11.3 6.9 5.9 4.4 4.4 3.3 3.5 2.4 2.0 

 FINLAND................... 6.8 11.5 9.9 9.2 4.4 3.0 3.5 3.9 2.0 4.4 

 FRANCE.................... 6.4 14.3 12.3 4.5 2.8 2.7 2.9 2.2 3.0 2.8 

 GERMANY................... - - - - - 2.2 1.7 .6 .7 1.7 

 GREECE.................... 15.2 23.9 26.0 16.0 14.6 6.0 7.7 12.4 4.4 4.2 

 HUNGARY................... - - - - - 18.1 9.3 7.3 6.2 8.2 

 IRELAND................... 7.8 14.7 13.3 4.6 3.8 5.1 6.2 4.3 6.4 6.5 

 ITALY..................... 8.6 18.0 15.8 8.0 4.9 2.4 4.1 5.7 2.7 2.5 

 LUXEMBOURG................ 4.5 8.0 5.6 3.8 5.4 1.9 2.7 4.4 4.0 .8 

 NETHERLANDS............... 4.0 7.6 3.9 2.5 3.3 3.7 3.5 1.9 3.1 .7 

 NORWAY.................... 6.6 10.1 9.1 8.6 3.0 4.8 4.8 5.9 2.8 4.3 

 POLAND.................... - - - - - - 4.0 2.8 3.8 6.0 

 PORTUGAL.................. 11.8 20.7 20.5 15.2 8.4 4.8 3.8 2.4 4.4 4.2 

 SPAIN..................... 9.6 23.8 13.4 7.9 6.5 3.9 4.5 3.7 3.8 4.2 

 SWEDEN.................... 6.9 12.2 9.5 8.3 4.7 4.2 3.6 3.5 3.0 3.0 

 SWITZERLAND............... 3.0 3.3 5.0 4.1 3.5 .7 1.4 .5 1.2 1.1 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 7.6 16.5 8.2 7.8 4.5 5.0 4.8 4.0 4.3 4.0 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 33 Foreign Economies 

 (3,4)................... 10.0 14.9 18.4 15.4 7.6 4.7 3.7 3.3 2.8 2.6 

 OECD (5).................. 9.7 13.9 15.8 15.8 7.5 4.6 3.8 3.3 2.7 2.3 

 Europe.................... 6.1 12.2 8.8 5.7 4.5 3.5 3.4 2.8 2.9 2.9 

 Euro Area (6)............. 5.9 11.8 9.1 5.2 4.5 3.0 3.2 2.5 2.6 2.7 

 Asian NIEs (7)............ 11.0 21.6 11.8 13.6 11.8 6.2 3.5 3.2 2.7 5.8 

 Rates of change based on compound rate method. 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) 1975-2005 for Sri Lanka. 

 (2) Average of selected manufacturing industries. 

 (3) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (4) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly 

 comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (6) Euro Area refers to European Union member countries in this release that have 

 adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001. 

 (7) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-20- 

 Table 5. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. dollars 

 per national currency unit), 34 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 

 selected years, 1975-2006 

 Country or area 1975- 1975- 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2004 2005 2006 

 2006(1) 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. - - - - - - - - - - 

 BRAZIL.................... - - - - - - -2.8 5.1 20.2 12.0 

 CANADA.................... -.4 -2.7 -3.1 3.2 -3.2 -1.6 4.6 7.6 7.4 6.9 

 MEXICO.................... -19.6 -11.5 -38.3 -38.0 -15.2 -7.5 -2.4 -4.4 3.7 -.2 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. -1.8 -2.7 -9.3 2.2 -1.0 -4.7 4.4 12.9 3.6 -1.2 

 HONG KONG SAR (2)......... -1.5 -.1 -8.6 .0 .1 -.1 .1 .0 .1 .1 

 ISRAEL.................... -24.8 -34.1 -66.3 -10.2 -7.7 -5.9 -1.5 1.6 -.1 .7 

 JAPAN..................... 3.1 5.6 -1.1 10.5 9.1 -2.7 -1.3 7.1 -1.7 -5.3 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ -2.2 -4.4 -6.9 4.2 -1.7 -7.4 2.9 4.1 11.8 7.3 

 NEW ZEALAND............... -2.0 -4.3 -12.6 3.7 1.9 -7.0 6.0 14.2 6.1 -7.9 

 PHILIPPINES............... - - - - - -10.3 -2.4 -3.3 1.7 7.5 

 SINGAPORE................. 1.3 2.1 -.5 3.9 5.1 -3.9 1.4 3.1 1.6 4.8 

 SRI LANKA................. -8.5 -15.7 -9.5 -7.5 -4.8 -7.8 - -4.6 .7 - 

 TAIWAN.................... .5 1.1 -2.0 8.2 .3 -3.2 -.7 3.1 3.9 -1.2 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 1.5 6.1 -9.0 12.8 2.4 -7.5 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 BELGIUM................... .4 4.7 -13.2 12.2 2.5 -7.6 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - - - - -7.2 9.3 9.8 7.3 6.0 

 DENMARK................... -.1 .4 -11.9 11.4 2.0 -7.1 5.3 9.8 -.1 .9 

 FINLAND................... -.8 -.3 -9.7 10.1 -2.6 -7.4 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 FRANCE.................... -.6 .3 -14.0 10.5 1.8 -6.8 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 GERMANY................... - - - - - -7.5 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 GREECE.................... -6.6 -5.4 -21.0 -2.7 -7.3 -8.7 5.1 9.9 .1 .9 

 HUNGARY................... - - - - - -14.9 5.0 10.7 1.6 -5.1 

 IRELAND................... -1.1 -1.5 -12.3 9.2 -.7 -6.1 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 ITALY..................... -2.7 -5.3 -14.8 9.8 -6.0 -4.9 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 LUXEMBOURG................ .4 4.7 -13.2 12.2 2.5 -7.6 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 NETHERLANDS............... 1.2 4.9 -9.8 12.7 2.6 -7.6 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 NORWAY.................... -.7 1.1 -10.5 6.6 -.3 -6.4 5.4 5.0 4.6 .5 

 POLAND.................... - - - - - - 5.8 6.3 13.0 4.3 

 PORTUGAL.................. -5.8 -12.7 -21.9 3.8 -1.0 -7.1 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 SPAIN..................... -2.7 -4.3 -15.9 10.8 -3.9 -7.1 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 SWEDEN.................... -1.8 -.4 -13.2 7.8 -3.7 -4.9 3.7 10.0 -1.6 1.3 

 SWITZERLAND............... 2.4 9.0 -7.4 12.0 3.3 -6.9 5.1 8.2 -.2 -.6 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ -.6 .9 -11.0 6.6 -2.4 -.8 3.3 12.1 -.6 1.3 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 33 Foreign Economies 

 (3,4)................... -3.4 -2.0 -12.4 -.4 -2.2 -4.6 2.2 5.7 3.5 2.0 

 OECD (5).................. -3.4 -1.7 -12.2 -.7 -2.5 -4.6 2.6 6.2 3.2 1.9 

 Europe.................... -.2 2.0 -11.6 10.4 .1 -5.9 4.9 10.1 .1 .9 

 Euro Area (6)............. -.1 2.0 -11.8 11.3 .6 -7.0 5.3 9.9 .1 .9 

 Asian NIEs (7)............ -.6 -1.0 -4.5 4.8 .4 -4.5 1.2 3.1 6.0 3.4 

 Rates of change based on compound rate method. 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) 1975-2005 for Sri Lanka. 

 (2) Average of selected manufacturing industries. 

 (3) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (4) The trade-weighted measures for production workers in this table are not directly 

 comparable with those for all employees later in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (6) Euro Area referes to European Union member countries in this release that have 

 adopted the Euro as the common currency as of January 1, 2001. 

 (7) The Asian NIEs are Hong Kong SAR, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-21- 

 Table 6. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Hourly compensation costs in national currency units in manufacturing 

 and exchange rates, 34 countries or areas, 2006 

 Country or area Compensation costs Exchange Rates 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 23.82 1.000 

 BRAZIL.................... 10.66 2.174 

 CANADA.................... 29.19 1.134 

 MEXICO.................... 30.01 10.91 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 34.69 1.327 

 HONG KONG SAR (1)......... 44.92 7.768 

 ISRAEL.................... 57.86 4.457 

 JAPAN..................... 2350 116.3 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 14049 954.3 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 22.28 1.540 

 PHILIPPINES............... 54.90 51.25 

 SINGAPORE................. 13.57 1.588 

 SRI LANKA................. - - 

 TAIWAN.................... 209.2 32.51 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 24.25 .7960 

 BELGIUM................... 25.35 .7960 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ 153.1 22.60 

 DENMARK................... 210.6 5.942 

 FINLAND................... 23.80 .7960 

 FRANCE.................... 19.82 .7960 

 GERMANY................... 27.23 .7960 

 GREECE.................... 12.82 .7960 

 HUNGARY................... 1324 210.4 

 IRELAND................... 20.66 .7960 

 ITALY..................... 19.96 .7960 

 LUXEMBOURG................ 22.08 .7960 

 NETHERLANDS............... 25.74 .7960 

 NORWAY.................... 263.2 6.410 

 POLAND.................... 15.47 3.103 

 PORTUGAL.................. 6.09 .7960 

 SPAIN..................... 14.99 .7960 

 SWEDEN.................... 234.4 7.372 

 SWITZERLAND............... 38.43 1.253 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 14.69 .5420 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) Average of selected manufacturing industries. 

 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; Greece, 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 1975-2006, see the supplementary tables to this 

 news release at http://www.bls.gov/fls. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-22- 

 Table 7. ALL EMPLOYEES: Indexes of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, 32 

 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006 

 Country or area 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 

 ARGENTINA................. 33 34 33 11 15 18 22 

 BRAZIL.................... 32 29 17 11 13 17 20 

 CANADA.................... 85 78 75 69 83 89 98 

 MEXICO.................... 10 10 12 13 12 12 13 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 89 77 69 66 95 98 102 

 ISRAEL.................... 51 53 52 46 46 46 49 

 JAPAN..................... 109 90 103 81 89 86 82 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 42 28 38 37 43 49 57 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 57 45 38 37 52 56 54 

 PHILIPPINES............... 6 4 4 4 4 4 5 

 SINGAPORE................. 53 49 47 44 45 44 46 

 TAIWAN.................... 31 27 30 25 25 26 27 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 135 114 93 92 118 119 124 

 BELGIUM................... 124 107 90 91 116 118 123 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ 15 15 14 17 22 24 - 

 DENMARK................... - 107 92 95 122 124 129 

 FINLAND................... 112 94 81 84 111 112 119 

 FRANCE.................... 126 109 88 85 109 110 114 

 GERMANY................... - 125 108 107 137 135 139 

 HUNGARY................... 15 15 14 19 26 27 28 

 IRELAND................... 75 70 62 68 97 99 105 

 ITALY..................... 95 84 67 68 93 93 97 

 NETHERLANDS............... - 103 85 89 118 117 119 

 NORWAY.................... - 116 102 116 142 149 156 

 POLAND.................... - 15 14 15 17 19 21 

 PORTUGAL.................. 30 28 23 23 30 30 32 

 SLOVAKIA.................. - 13 11 12 18 20 22 

 SPAIN..................... 70 61 51 52 70 70 74 

 SWEDEN.................... 116 103 89 85 112 110 116 

 SWITZERLAND............... 147 122 99 102 122 120 121 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 77 90 87 86 106 108 114 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 31 Foreign Economies 

 (1,2)................... 70 68 65 60 73 75 78 

 OECD (3).................. 75 72 69 65 79 81 85 

 Europe.................... 99 100 86 87 112 112 116 

 Euro Area (4)............. 104 103 87 88 114 114 118 

 Asian NIEs (5)............ 41 32 37 35 37 40 44 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable 

 with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-23- 

 Table 8. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars in manufacturing, 

 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, selected years, 1996-2006 

 Country or area 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 22.13 23.14 24.64 27.03 28.98 29.75 29.60 

 ARGENTINA................. 7.32 7.87 8.05 2.98 4.47 5.45 6.57 

 BRAZIL.................... 7.13 6.69 4.31 3.07 3.81 5.01 5.90 

 CANADA.................... 18.91 17.97 18.57 18.65 24.03 26.57 29.00 

 MEXICO.................... 2.32 2.37 2.89 3.44 3.33 3.57 3.72 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 19.75 17.71 17.01 17.88 27.43 29.18 30.10 

 ISRAEL.................... 11.35 12.21 12.77 12.34 13.43 13.80 14.37 

 JAPAN..................... 24.05 20.92 25.42 21.86 25.68 25.68 24.40 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 9.37 6.49 9.43 10.05 12.39 14.60 16.87 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 12.58 10.43 9.31 10.11 15.17 16.64 16.08 

 PHILIPPINES............... 1.27 0.91 0.97 1.00 1.07 1.17 1.36 

 SINGAPORE................. 11.78 11.39 11.58 11.97 13.11 13.14 13.55 

 TAIWAN.................... 6.91 6.31 7.35 6.84 7.26 7.87 7.95 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 29.86 26.48 23.01 24.78 34.05 35.27 36.70 

 BELGIUM................... 27.48 24.67 22.30 24.53 33.56 35.01 36.35 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ 3.40 3.52 3.37 4.57 6.52 7.24 - 

 DENMARK................... - 24.75 22.55 25.60 35.39 36.77 38.21 

 FINLAND................... 24.74 21.78 20.03 22.60 32.15 33.36 35.26 

 FRANCE.................... 27.93 25.11 21.66 23.08 31.67 32.59 33.73 

 GERMANY................... - 28.98 26.56 28.95 39.67 40.05 41.04 

 HUNGARY................... 3.39 3.44 3.54 5.04 7.49 8.15 8.39 

 IRELAND................... 16.68 16.29 15.30 18.44 28.02 29.53 30.99 

 ITALY..................... 20.93 19.32 16.57 18.43 26.99 27.75 28.71 

 NETHERLANDS............... - 23.78 21.04 24.12 34.06 34.76 35.34 

 NORWAY.................... - 26.90 25.04 31.32 41.16 44.28 46.31 

 POLAND.................... - 3.50 3.40 4.06 4.80 5.66 6.26 

 PORTUGAL.................. 6.65 6.49 5.60 6.28 8.68 9.07 9.54 

 SLOVAKIA.................. - 2.91 2.61 3.25 5.21 5.82 6.53 

 SPAIN..................... 15.58 14.21 12.48 14.11 20.19 20.97 22.05 

 SWEDEN.................... 25.61 23.74 21.82 22.90 32.59 32.70 34.21 

 SWITZERLAND............... 32.55 28.18 24.42 27.71 35.21 35.56 35.68 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 17.13 20.87 21.38 23.15 30.86 32.26 33.71 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 31 Foreign Economies 

 (1,2)................... 15.46 15.72 16.02 16.34 21.14 22.27 23.24 

 OECD (3).................. 16.51 16.71 17.05 17.49 22.79 23.99 25.03 

 Europe.................... 21.84 23.16 21.21 23.41 32.35 33.24 34.31 

 Euro Area (4)............. 22.92 23.90 21.44 23.70 33.16 33.97 35.04 

 Asian NIEs (5)............ 9.04 7.48 9.17 9.36 10.78 11.98 13.09 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable 

 with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-24- 

 Table 9. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in U.S. 

 dollars in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 

 selected years, 1996-2006 

 Country or area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2003 2004 2005 2006 

 2006 2000 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 3.0 2.7 3.1 4.3 2.8 2.7 -.5 

 ARGENTINA................. -1.1 2.4 -3.3 21.6 23.1 22.1 20.6 

 BRAZIL.................... -1.9 -11.8 5.4 5.0 18.2 31.6 17.8 

 CANADA.................... 4.4 -.4 7.7 15.1 12.0 10.6 9.1 

 MEXICO.................... 4.8 5.7 4.3 -2.2 -.8 7.2 4.1 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 4.3 -3.7 10.0 29.2 18.7 6.4 3.2 

 ISRAEL.................... 2.4 3.0 2.0 6.0 2.7 2.8 4.1 

 JAPAN..................... .1 1.4 -.7 9.0 7.8 .0 -5.0 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 6.1 .2 10.2 10.5 11.5 17.8 15.5 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 2.5 -7.2 9.5 28.5 16.8 9.7 -3.3 

 PHILIPPINES............... .7 -6.4 5.8 .4 6.7 9.5 16.2 

 SINGAPORE................. 1.4 -.4 2.6 5.9 3.5 .2 3.1 

 TAIWAN.................... 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.5 4.6 8.5 .9 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 2.1 -6.3 8.1 23.1 11.6 3.6 4.1 

 BELGIUM................... 2.8 -5.1 8.5 21.7 12.4 4.3 3.8 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ 8.7 -.2 - 22.5 16.4 11.0 - 

 DENMARK................... - - 9.2 24.6 10.9 3.9 3.9 

 FINLAND................... 3.6 -5.1 9.9 23.8 14.9 3.8 5.7 

 FRANCE.................... 1.9 -6.2 7.7 22.5 12.0 2.9 3.5 

 GERMANY................... - - 7.5 23.2 11.2 1.0 2.5 

 HUNGARY................... 9.5 1.1 15.5 24.5 19.5 8.8 2.9 

 IRELAND................... 6.4 -2.1 12.5 29.2 17.6 5.4 4.9 

 ITALY..................... 3.2 -5.7 9.6 26.1 16.1 2.8 3.5 

 NETHERLANDS............... - - 9.0 25.5 12.5 2.0 1.7 

 NORWAY.................... - - 10.8 18.1 11.3 7.6 4.6 

 POLAND.................... - - 10.7 7.5 9.9 18.0 10.5 

 PORTUGAL.................. 3.7 -4.2 9.3 22.8 12.5 4.5 5.2 

 SLOVAKIA.................. - - 16.5 35.0 18.6 11.9 12.2 

 SPAIN..................... 3.5 -5.4 10.0 25.6 14.0 3.9 5.1 

 SWEDEN.................... 2.9 -3.9 7.8 25.5 13.4 .3 4.6 

 SWITZERLAND............... .9 -6.9 6.5 16.9 8.7 1.0 .3 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 7.0 5.7 7.9 14.9 16.0 4.6 4.5 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 31 Foreign Economies 

 (1,2)................... 3.5 .2 6.0 12.6 9.5 6.9 5.0 

 OECD (3).................. 3.9 .5 6.5 13.7 9.7 6.4 4.7 

 Europe.................... 4.2 -2.3 8.6 22.4 13.4 3.1 3.5 

 Euro Area (4)............. 3.4 -5.0 8.8 24.3 13.1 2.6 3.3 

 Asian NIEs (5)............ 3.5 .5 5.5 6.4 7.4 10.9 7.9 

 Rates of change based on compound rate method. 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable 

 with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-25- 

 Table 10. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in national 

 currency in manufacturing, 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 

 selected years, 1996-2006 

 Country or area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2003 2004 2005 2006 

 2006 2000 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 3.0 2.7 3.1 4.3 2.8 2.7 -.5 

 ARGENTINA................. 10.6 2.4 16.5 15.2 24.0 21.3 26.8 

 BRAZIL.................... 6.0 2.4 8.5 10.5 12.4 9.5 5.2 

 CANADA.................... 2.5 1.7 3.0 2.7 4.1 2.9 2.1 

 MEXICO.................... 8.7 11.6 6.8 9.2 3.8 3.4 4.2 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 4.7 3.8 5.3 7.7 5.2 2.7 4.4 

 ISRAEL.................... 5.9 9.5 3.5 1.9 1.1 2.9 3.4 

 JAPAN..................... .8 1.2 .6 .9 .7 1.7 .4 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 7.9 9.1 7.1 5.4 7.1 5.4 7.7 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 3.1 2.7 3.3 2.5 2.3 3.4 4.9 

 PHILIPPINES............... 7.7 6.7 8.4 5.5 10.3 7.7 8.1 

 SINGAPORE................. 2.6 4.7 1.2 2.9 .4 -1.3 -1.6 

 TAIWAN.................... 3.1 4.9 2.0 1.1 1.4 4.5 2.1 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 2.4 2.1 2.7 2.8 1.6 3.5 3.1 

 BELGIUM................... 3.2 3.4 3.1 1.6 2.3 4.2 2.9 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ 7.2 9.0 - 5.5 6.0 3.5 - 

 DENMARK................... - - 3.7 3.9 1.0 4.0 3.0 

 FINLAND................... 3.9 3.2 4.4 3.3 4.6 3.7 4.7 

 FRANCE.................... 2.1 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.0 2.8 2.6 

 GERMANY................... - - 2.1 2.9 1.2 .9 1.5 

 HUNGARY................... 13.0 17.9 9.9 8.3 8.0 7.2 8.5 

 IRELAND................... 6.4 5.8 6.9 7.9 7.0 5.3 4.0 

 ITALY..................... 3.2 1.8 4.1 5.3 5.7 2.7 2.5 

 NETHERLANDS............... - - 3.6 4.8 2.4 2.0 .7 

 NORWAY.................... - - 5.1 4.7 5.9 2.8 4.1 

 POLAND.................... - - 4.6 2.5 3.3 4.4 6.0 

 PORTUGAL.................. 4.0 4.4 3.8 2.5 2.4 4.4 4.2 

 SLOVAKIA.................. - - 8.3 9.5 4.1 7.6 7.1 

 SPAIN..................... 4.0 3.3 4.5 4.9 3.7 3.8 4.2 

 SWEDEN.................... 3.9 3.9 3.9 4.3 3.1 2.0 3.2 

 SWITZERLAND............... 1.1 .6 1.3 1.0 .5 1.2 .9 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 5.2 6.5 4.4 5.5 3.5 5.2 3.1 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 31 Foreign Economies 

 (1,2)................... 4.3 4.7 3.9 4.3 3.6 3.2 2.8 

 OECD (3).................. 4.2 4.7 3.8 4.3 3.4 3.0 2.7 

 Europe.................... 4.0 4.0 3.5 4.0 3.0 3.0 2.5 

 Euro Area (4)............. 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.8 2.9 2.6 2.3 

 Asian NIEs (5)............ 5.1 6.7 4.1 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.8 

 Rates of change based on compound rate method. 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable 

 with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-26- 

 Table 11. ALL EMPLOYEES: Annual percent change in exchange rates (U.S. dollars per 

 national currency unit), 32 countries or areas and selected economic groups, 

 selected years, 1996-2006 

 Country or area 1996- 1996- 2000- 2003 2004 2005 2006 

 2006 2000 2006 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. - - - - - - - 

 ARGENTINA................. -10.6 .0 -17.0 5.6 -.8 .7 -4.9 

 BRAZIL.................... -7.4 -13.9 -2.8 -5.0 5.1 20.2 12.0 

 CANADA.................... 1.9 -2.1 4.6 12.1 7.6 7.4 6.9 

 MEXICO.................... -3.6 -5.3 -2.4 -10.4 -4.4 3.7 -.2 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. -.4 -7.2 4.4 20.0 12.9 3.6 -1.2 

 ISRAEL.................... -3.3 -5.9 -1.5 4.0 1.6 -.1 .7 

 JAPAN..................... -.7 .2 -1.3 8.0 7.1 -1.7 -5.3 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ -1.7 -8.2 2.9 4.9 4.1 11.8 7.3 

 NEW ZEALAND............... -.6 -9.7 6.0 25.3 14.2 6.1 -7.9 

 PHILIPPINES............... -6.5 -12.3 -2.4 -4.8 -3.3 1.7 7.5 

 SINGAPORE................. -1.2 -4.9 1.4 2.9 3.0 1.6 4.8 

 TAIWAN.................... -1.7 -3.2 -.7 .4 3.1 3.9 -1.2 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... -.3 -8.2 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 BELGIUM................... -.4 -8.2 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ 1.4 -8.4 - 16.1 9.8 7.3 - 

 DENMARK................... - - 5.3 19.9 9.8 -.1 .9 

 FINLAND................... -.3 -8.1 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 FRANCE.................... -.2 -7.9 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 GERMANY................... - - 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 HUNGARY................... -3.2 -14.2 5.0 15.0 10.7 1.6 -5.1 

 IRELAND................... .0 -7.5 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 ITALY..................... .0 -7.4 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 NETHERLANDS............... - - 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 NORWAY.................... - - 5.4 12.7 5.1 4.6 .5 

 POLAND.................... - - 5.8 4.9 6.3 13.0 4.3 

 PORTUGAL.................. -.3 -8.2 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 SLOVAKIA.................. - - 7.6 23.3 14.0 4.0 4.8 

 SPAIN..................... -.4 -8.4 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 SWEDEN.................... -.9 -7.5 3.7 20.3 10.0 -1.6 1.3 

 SWITZERLAND............... -.1 -7.5 5.1 15.8 8.2 -.2 -.6 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 1.7 -.7 3.3 8.9 12.1 -.6 1.3 

 Trade-weighted measures 

 All 31 Foreign Economies 

 (1,2)................... -.7 -4.2 2.1 8.2 5.8 3.5 2.0 

 OECD (3).................. -.3 -3.9 2.6 9.2 6.2 3.2 1.8 

 Europe.................... .2 -6.1 4.9 17.7 10.1 .1 .9 

 Euro Area (4)............. -.2 -7.8 5.3 19.8 9.9 .1 .9 

 Asian NIEs (5)............ -1.6 -5.8 1.3 2.9 3.5 6.9 3.9 

 Rates of change based on compound rate method. 

 Dash means data not available. 

 (1) For a description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical 

 Notes preceding these tables. 

 (2) The trade-weighted measures for all employees in this table are not directly comparable 

 with those for production workers earlier in this release; the country coverage 

 of the two series differs slightly. 

 (3) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 (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, 2001. 

 (5) The Asian NIEs are Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008. 
-27- 

Table 12. ALL EMPLOYEES: Hourly compensation costs in national currency units in manufacturing and 

 exchange rates, 32 countries or areas, 2006 

 Country or area Compensation costs Exchange Rates 

 Americas 

 UNITED STATES............. 29.60 1.000 

 ARGENTINA................. 20.08 3.054 

 BRAZIL.................... 12.83 2.174 

 CANADA.................... 32.88 1.134 

 MEXICO.................... 40.58 10.91 

 Asia and Oceania 

 AUSTRALIA................. 39.94 1.327 

 ISRAEL.................... 64.04 4.457 

 JAPAN..................... 2838 116.3 

 KOREA, REPUBLIC OF........ 16097 954.3 

 NEW ZEALAND............... 24.77 1.540 

 PHILIPPINES............... 69.81 51.25 

 SINGAPORE................. 21.52 1.588 

 TAIWAN.................... 258.4 32.51 

 Europe 

 AUSTRIA................... 29.21 .7960 

 BELGIUM................... 28.93 .7960 

 CZECH REPUBLIC............ - - 

 DENMARK................... 227.0 5.942 

 FINLAND................... 28.07 .7960 

 FRANCE.................... 26.85 .7960 

 GERMANY................... 32.67 .7960 

 HUNGARY................... 1765 210.4 

 IRELAND................... 24.67 .7960 

 ITALY..................... 22.86 .7960 

 NETHERLANDS............... 28.13 .7960 

 NORWAY.................... 296.8 6.410 

 POLAND.................... 19.42 3.103 

 PORTUGAL.................. 7.59 .7960 

 SLOVAKIA.................. 193.5 29.61 

 SPAIN..................... 17.55 .7960 

 SWEDEN.................... 252.2 7.372 

 SWITZERLAND............... 44.71 1.253 

 UNITED KINGDOM............ 18.27 .5420 

 Dash means data not available. 

 National currency units are: United States, dollar; Argentina, pesos; 

 Brazil, real; Canada, dollar; Mexico, peso; Australia, dollar; 

 Israel, new shekel; Japan, yen; Republic of 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; 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 1975-2006, see the supplementary tables to this 

 news release at http://www.bls.gov/fls. 

 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2008.