For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Thursday, August 26, 2010 USDL-10-1173 

Technical Information: (202) 691-5654 • ILChelp@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ilc 

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov

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.)

1 For 2008, U.S. hourly compensation costs were $32.26. 

2 Trade-weighted average

Chart 1. Indexes of hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for all 

employees in manufacturing, 2008

United States 1 Canada Mexico Euro Area 2 Eastern Europe 2 East Asia 

ex-Japan 2

All 32 foreign 

economies 2

100

50

Japan

Index

(U.S. = 100)
- 2 - 

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 compensation 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

1

Tradeweightedaverage

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1999 2002 2005 2008

EuroArea1

UnitedStates

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1999 2002 2005 2008

UnitedStates

Canada

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1999 2002 2005 2008

EastAsiaexJapan1

UnitedStates

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1999 2002 2005 2008

UnitedStates

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1999 2002 2005 2008

UnitedStates

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1999 2002 2005 2008

UnitedStates

Mexico

Japan EasternEurope1

Hourly

Costs($)

Hourly

Costs($)

Hourly

Costs($)

Hourly

Costs($)

Hourly

Costs($) Hourly

Costs($)
- 3 - 

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. 

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.
- 4 - 

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

Year National currency 

basis (Yuan) 

U.S. dollar 

basis (US$) 

Index1

(United States = 100) 

2005 5.95 0.73 2.4 

2006 6.44 0.81 2.7 

 20072

 8.06 1.06 3.4 

2008 9.48 1.36 4.2 

India: Hourly Compensation Costs for All Employees in Manufacturing, 2003-2005

 Year National currency 

basis (Rupees) 

U.S. dollar 

basis (US$) 

 Index1

 

(United States = 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. 
- 5 - 

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 

Country or area 

Hourly 

compensation,

national 

currency 

Exchange 

rates

Hourly 

compensation, 

U.S. 

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 -0.9 -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 32 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 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 or area 

US=100 US$ Production 

Workers (All 

Employees 

= 100) 

All

Employees 

Production 

Workers 

All

Employees 

Production 

Workers 

 

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 SAR1 - 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 - 0.68 - 

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 timeseries 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 submanufacturing 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 submanufacturing 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 subject 

line. JustOut! provides notice of the latest ILC releases, which usually occur once or twice per 

month.

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 http://www.bls.gov/ilc/flshcaeindnaics.htm for all employees and 

http://www.bls.gov/ilc/flshcpwindnaics.htm 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 
-9- 

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

excluded.

Hourly Compensation Costs 

Hourly Direct Pay Employer Social Insurance 

Expenditures (both legally 

required and contractual and 

private) and Labor-related 

Taxes

Pay for Time Worked Other Direct Pay 

Basic wages 

Piece rate 

Overtime premiums 

Shift, holiday, or night work 

premiums 

Cost-of-living adjustments 

Bonuses and premiums paid 

each pay period 

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) 

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 

http://www.bls.gov/web/ichcc.supp.toc.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 on legally required 

insurance, contractual and private benefit plans, and labor-related 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 or censuses of manufacturers 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. 
-10- 

Generally, these 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 changes in social insurance benefits, 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 used 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/fls/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 classification 

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 which the data 
-11- 

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 http://www.bls.gov/fls/china.htm (China) and 

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2010/05/art1full.pdf (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 tradeweighted 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, tradeweighted 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.
-12- 

Share of total U.S. imports and exports of manufactured products in 2007 

(in percent) 

Country or area and 

economic group 

 2007 trade 

share

Country or area and 

economic group 

2007 trade 

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 

Belgium............. 1.4 Economies........... 69.2 

Czech Republic... 0.1 OECD 2,3................ 61.5 

Denmark............ 0.3 Europe3................ 22.0 

Finland.............. 0.3 Euro Area 3............ 15.7 

France............... 2.4 Eastern Europe3...... 0.6 

Germany............ 5.1 East Asia ex-Japan3... 7.4 

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-
-13- 

manufacturing industries is available on the BLS website at 

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2010/06/art3full.pdf.

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. 
CountryorArea 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 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

Mexico1

........................................ 9 10 12 13 12 12 12 13

AsiaandOceania

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,Republicof....................... 44 29 40 38 44 59 62 50

NewZealand............................... 56 45 38 37 52 54 61 60

Philippines.................................. 54433455

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

CzechRepublic............................. 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

UnitedKingdom........................... 76 88 83 84 106 110 118 111

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 69 65 61 74 79 82 85

OECD2

........................................... 73 69 65 79 84 88 91

Europe3

........................................ 102 86 87 112 115 122 129

EuroArea4

.................................... 106 87 88 114 117 124 134

EasternEurope5

............................ 14 13 15 19 23 27 33

EastAsiaexJapan6

....................... 31 35 33 35 42 43 41

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1

ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

3

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

5

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,andSlovakia.

6

EastAsiaexJapanincludestheRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table1.AllEmployees:Indexesofhourlycompensationcostsinmanufacturing,33countriesorareasandselected

economicgroups,selectedyears,19962008

2

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

4

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrency

asofJanuary1,2009.
CountryorArea 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 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

Mexico1

........................................ 2.06 2.37 3.04 3.57 3.33 3.71 3.90 4.04

AsiaandOceania

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,Republicof....................... 9.70 6.73 9.79 10.37 12.73 17.55 19.42 16.27

NewZealand............................... 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

CzechRepublic............................. 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

UnitedKingdom........................... 16.88 20.40 20.56 22.83 30.57 33.01 37.14 35.81

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 15.98 16.06 16.40 21.32 23.51 25.75 27.49

OECD2

........................................... 16.97 17.07 17.53 22.96 25.29 27.69 29.43

Europe3

........................................ 23.56 21.15 23.46 32.26 34.32 38.38 41.69

EuroArea4

.................................... 24.40 21.40 23.63 32.88 34.93 39.04 43.28

EasternEurope5

............................ 3.29 3.15 4.08 5.62 6.84 8.41 10.56

EastAsiaexJapan6

....................... 7.17 8.71 8.88 10.21 12.53 13.69 13.31

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1

ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

3

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

5

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,andSlovakia.

6

EastAsiaexJapanincludestheRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table2.AllEmployees:HourlycompensationcostsinU.S.dollarsinmanufacturing,33countriesorareasandselected

economicgroups,selectedyears,19962008

2

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

4

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrency

asofJanuary1,2009.
CountryorArea

1996

20081

1996

2000

2000

2008

2005 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 3.2 2.7 3.4 2.8 0.8 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 0.4 7.2 11.0 9.0 9.8 2.0

Mexico2

........................................ 5.7 10.1 3.6 7.0 4.1 5.0 3.5

AsiaandOceania

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 0.1 4.9 1.4 16.0

Korea,Republicof....................... 4.4 0.2 6.6 18.8 16.0 10.7 16.2

NewZealand............................... 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 0.6 6.2 0.5 4.1 13.4 19.5

Taiwan......................................... 1.9 1.5 2.2 8.6 2.9 0.0 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

CzechRepublic............................. 11.2 0.2 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 0.7 4.7 13.0 7.1

Switzerland.................................. 2.3 6.9 7.3 0.9 0.5 6.0 12.9

UnitedKingdom........................... 6.5 5.1 7.2 3.9 4.0 12.5 3.6

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 4.6 6.4 6.9 5.3 9.8 7.2

OECD3

........................................... 4.7 6.5 6.3 4.8 8.6 5.6

Europe4

........................................ 5.3 9.0 2.8 3.9 12.1 8.9

EuroArea5

.................................... 5.0 9.2 2.4 3.9 11.9 11.0

EasternEurope6

............................ 11.1 16.4 12.7 8.6 23.0 26.0

EastAsiaexJapan7

....................... 3.4 5.3 11.0 10.1 8.4 0.9

Ratesofchangebasedoncompoundratemethod.

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

2

ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,andSlovakia.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludestheRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table3.AllEmployees:AnnualpercentchangeinhourlycompensationcostsinU.S.dollarsinmanufacturing,

33countriesorareasandselectedeconomicgroups,selectedyears,19962008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrency

asofJanuary1,2009.

1

19972008dataforDenmark,theNetherlands,Norway,Poland,andSlovakia.19982008dataforGermany.

20002008dataforGreece.
CountryorArea

1996

20081

1996

2000

2000

2008

2005 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 3.2 2.7 3.4 2.8 0.8 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

Mexico2

........................................ 9.2 16.3 5.8 3.3 4.3 5.2 5.6

AsiaandOceania

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............................................ 0.8 1.2 0.6 1.7 0.5 0.2 1.8

Korea,Republicof....................... 7.2 9.2 6.2 6.3 8.2 7.7 0.9

NewZealand............................... 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 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

CzechRepublic............................. 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 0.4 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 0.9 3.3 3.5 4.4

Switzerland.................................. 1.2 0.6 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.5 1.8

UnitedKingdom........................... 4.9 5.8 4.5 4.5 2.6 3.7 4.1

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 4.2 3.7 3.2 3.1 3.6 3.5

OECD3

........................................... 4.1 3.5 3.0 2.9 3.5 2.9

Europe4

........................................ 3.5 3.4 2.6 2.9 2.9 3.5

EuroArea5

.................................... 3.1 3.2 2.3 2.9 2.5 3.2

EasternEurope6

............................ 8.5 7.1 5.1 6.3 9.2 7.5

EastAsiaexJapan7

....................... 5.2 4.6 4.3 5.6 5.3 3.6

Ratesofchangebasedoncompoundratemethod.

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

2

ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,andSlovakia.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludestheRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrency

asofJanuary1,2009.

Table4.AllEmployees:Annualpercentchangeinhourlycompensationcostsinnationalcurrencyin

manufacturing,33countriesorareasandselectedeconomicgroups,selectedyears,19962008

1

19972008dataforDenmark,theNetherlands,Norway,Poland,andSlovakia.19982008dataforGermany.

20002008dataforGreece.
CountryorArea

1996

20081

1996

2000

2000

2008

2005 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 

Argentina..................................... 9.2 0.0 13.4 0.7 4.9 1.8 1.7

Brazil............................................ 4.9 13.9 0.0 20.2 12.0 11.7 6.2

Canada......................................... 2.1 2.1 4.2 7.4 6.8 5.6 0.7

Mexico2

........................................ 3.1 5.3 2.0 3.6 0.1 0.2 1.9

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 0.7 7.2 4.9 3.6 1.2 11.4 1.7

Israel............................................ 0.9 5.9 1.7 0.1 0.7 7.6 16.3

Japan............................................ 0.4 0.2 0.5 1.8 5.3 1.2 13.9

Korea,Republicof....................... 2.6 8.2 0.4 11.9 7.3 2.7 15.4

NewZealand............................... 0.3 9.7 5.8 6.1 7.9 13.4 2.9

Philippines.................................. 4.3 12.3 0.1 1.7 7.5 11.0 3.8

Singapore.................................... 0.0 4.9 2.5 1.6 4.8 5.4 6.5

Taiwan......................................... 1.1 3.2 0.1 3.9 1.2 1.1 4.2

Europe

Austria......................................... 1.0 8.2 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Belgium........................................ 1.0 8.2 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

CzechRepublic............................. 3.9 8.4 10.7 7.3 6.0 10.1 20.3

Denmark...................................... 2.4 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.2 6.9

Finland......................................... 1.1 8.1 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

France.......................................... 1.2 7.9 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Germany...................................... 2.9 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Greece.......................................... 5.9 5.9 0.1 0.9 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 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Italy.............................................. 1.3 7.4 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Netherlands................................. 2.4 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Norway......................................... 2.1 5.7 4.6 0.5 9.5 3.9

Poland.......................................... 3.3 8.3 13.0 4.3 10.4 22.2

Portugal....................................... 1.0 8.2 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Slovakia....................................... 4.3 10.3 4.0 4.8 18.8 18.4

Spain............................................ 1.0 8.4 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.1 7.4

Sweden......................................... 0.2 7.5 4.2 1.6 1.3 9.1 2.6

Switzerland.................................. 1.1 7.5 5.7 0.2 0.6 4.4 10.9

UnitedKingdom........................... 1.4 0.7 2.6 0.6 1.3 8.5 7.4

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 0.2 2.6 3.5 2.1 5.0 3.1

OECD3

........................................... 0.6 2.9 3.2 1.9 4.9 2.7

Europe4

........................................ 1.8 5.5 0.1 0.9 8.9 5.3

EuroArea5

.................................... 1.9 6.0 0.1 0.9 9.2 7.5

EasternEurope6

............................ 2.4 8.7 7.3 2.2 12.7 17.1

EastAsiaexJapan7

....................... 1.7 0.7 6.3 4.2 2.9 3.0

Ratesofchangebasedoncompoundratemethod.

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

2

ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,andSlovakia.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludestheRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table5.AllEmployees:Annualpercentchangeinexchangerates(U.S.dollarspernationalcurrencyunit),33

countriesorareasandselectedeconomicgroups,selectedyears,19962008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrency

asofJanuary1,2009.

1

19972008dataforDenmark,theNetherlands,Norway,Poland,andSlovakia.19982008dataforGermany.

20002008dataforGreece.
CountryorArea Compensationcosts ExchangeRates

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 32.26 1.000

Argentina..................................... 31.28 3.164

Brazil............................................ 15.17 1.833

Canada......................................... 34.85 1.066

Mexico1

........................................ 44.98 11.14

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 43.20 1.171

Israel............................................ 69.81 3.560

Japan............................................ 2874 103.4

Korea,Republicof....................... 17871 1099

NewZealand............................... 27.17 1.398

Philippines.................................. 74.7 44.44

Singapore.................................... 26.55 1.414

Taiwan......................................... 273.6 31.52

Europe

Austria......................................... 32.41 0.6791

Belgium........................................ 32.01 0.6791

CzechRepublic............................. 208.1 17.06

Denmark...................................... 260.9 5.089

Finland......................................... 30.34 0.6791

France.......................................... 28.48 0.6791

Germany...................................... 32.75 0.6791

Greece.......................................... 13.30 0.6791

Hungary....................................... 1643 171.8

Ireland......................................... 30.42 0.6791

Italy.............................................. 24.29 0.6791

Netherlands................................. 30.09 0.6791

Norway......................................... 322.3 5.637

Poland.......................................... 23.17 2.300

Portugal....................................... 8.30 0.6791

Slovakia....................................... 229.6 21.05

Spain............................................ 18.81 0.6791

Sweden......................................... 285.3 6.585

Switzerland.................................. 46.81 1.082

UnitedKingdom........................... 19.31 0.5392

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1

ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

Table6.AllEmployees:Hourlycompensationcostsinnationalcurrencyunitsandexchangerates,33

countriesorareas,2008

Nationalcurrencyunitsare:UnitedStates,dollar;Argentina,peso;Brazil,real;Canada,dollar;Mexico,peso;

Australia,dollar;Israel,newshekel;Japan,yen;Korea,won;NewZealand,dollar;Philippines,peso;Singapore,

dollar;Taiwan,dollar;Austria,euro;Belgium,euro;CzechRepublic,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;

UnitedKingdom,pound.

Note:Fordataforallyears19962008,seethetimeseriestablesassociatedwiththisreleaseat

http://www.bls.gov/ilc.
CountryorArea 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 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

Mexico1

........................................ 23 22 12 10 8 11 11 12 12 12

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 94 90 66 91 88 72 106 108 119 127

HongKongSAR2

........................... 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,Republicof....................... 5 10 10 26 44 43 56 64 67 55

NewZealand............................... 53 56 36 57 60 43 63 60 69 68

Philippines.................................. 544455

Singapore.................................... 14 16 20 26 45 37 31 36 34 38

SriLanka...................................... 5222322223

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

CzechRepublic............................. 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

UnitedKingdom........................... 53 76 48 82 79 85 105 107 116 109

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 61 66 50 77 84 68 79 82 85 89

OECD3

........................................... 68 73 55 85 91 74 86 89 93 97

Europe4

........................................ 77 95 59 109 120 88 113 116 123 131

EuroArea5

................................... 81 99 60 114 128 88 115 117 124 135

EasternEurope6

........................... 14 22 23 27 34

EastAsiaexJapan7

...................... 8 11 12 23 37 34 36 40 40 37

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1 ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

2

HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionofChina

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,andPoland.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludesHongKongSAR,theRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table7.ProductionWorkers:Indexesofhourlycompensationcostsinmanufacturing,33countriesorareasandselected

economicgroups,selectedyears,19752008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrencyasof

January1,2009.
CountryorArea 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 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

Mexico1

........................................ 1.43 2.16 1.55 1.54 1.43 2.16 2.65 2.82 2.99 3.12

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 5.79 8.74 8.47 13.56 15.23 14.15 25.06 25.94 29.98 32.49

HongKongSAR2

........................... 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,Republicof....................... 0.33 0.98 1.26 3.80 7.55 8.54 13.20 15.32 16.95 14.20

NewZealand............................... 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

SriLanka...................................... 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

CzechRepublic............................. 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

UnitedKingdom........................... 3.28 7.35 6.08 12.18 13.55 16.68 24.70 25.60 29.09 27.86

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 3.78 6.34 6.41 11.47 14.44 13.48 18.70 19.50 21.41 22.81

OECD3

........................................... 4.21 7.03 7.06 12.58 15.71 14.49 20.37 21.20 23.33 24.78

Europe4

........................................ 4.79 9.22 7.47 16.20 20.66 17.37 26.73 27.69 30.94 33.50

EuroArea5

................................... 4.98 9.54 7.69 16.93 22.05 17.40 27.06 28.04 31.24 34.53

EasternEurope6

........................... 2.68 5.15 5.58 6.85 8.61

EastAsiaexJapan7

...................... 0.47 1.10 1.55 3.49 6.37 6.74 8.48 9.55 10.08 9.51

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1 ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

2

HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionofChina

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,andPoland.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludesHongKongSAR,theRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table8.ProductionWorkers:HourlycompensationcostsinU.S.dollarsinmanufacturing,33countriesorareasandselected

economicgroups,selectedyears,19752008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrencyasof

January1,2009.
CountryorArea

1975

2008

1975

1980

1980

1985

1985

1990

1990

1995

1995

2000

2000

2005

2000

2008

2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 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 0.2 0.0 7.7 7.4 7.5 11.3 2.4

Mexico1

........................................ 2.4 8.5 6.3 0.2 1.4 8.6 4.2 4.7 6.1 6.3 4.4

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 5.4 8.6 0.6 9.9 2.4 1.5 12.1 10.9 3.5 15.6 8.4

HongKongSAR2

........................... 6.4 14.8 2.8 13.2 8.4 2.5 0.7 1.0 2.4 0.1 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 0.3 0.8 6.2 1.1 17.1

Korea,Republicof....................... 12.1 24.3 5.2 24.6 14.7 2.5 9.1 6.6 16.0 10.7 16.2

NewZealand............................... 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 0.1 3.7 18.2 2.8 15.7

SriLanka...................................... 2.7 5.0 5.2 4.7 6.4 0.0 2.6 4.5 4.5 7.0 12.3

Taiwan......................................... 9.1 21.8 7.6 21.0 8.9 0.6 0.8 1.5 2.4 0.3 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

CzechRepublic............................. 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 0.7 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 0.7 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 0.8 0.9 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 0.5 6.0 12.9

UnitedKingdom........................... 6.7 17.5 3.7 14.9 2.2 4.2 8.2 6.6 3.6 13.7 4.3

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 5.4 11.4 0.0 11.1 4.1 0.5 6.1 6.4 5.3 8.8 6.7

OECD3

........................................... 5.3 11.4 0.6 11.1 3.7 0.4 6.8 6.6 4.6 9.2 5.9

Europe4

........................................ 6.0 14.0 3.9 16.4 4.5 2.9 9.2 8.7 3.7 12.0 8.5

EuroArea5

................................... 6.1 13.9 4.1 17.1 5.2 4.4 9.4 9.0 3.7 11.5 10.6

EasternEurope6

........................... 13.9 15.7 8.3 23.1 26.0

EastAsiaexJapan7

...................... 8.9 18.5 6.3 17.3 11.4 1.1 3.8 4.1 11.9 4.2 0.0

Ratesofchangebasedoncompoundratemethod.

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1 ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

2

HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionofChina

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,andPoland.

Table9.ProductionWorkers:AnnualpercentchangeinhourlycompensationcostsinU.S.dollarsinmanufacturing,33countriesor

areasandselectedeconomicgroups,selectedyears,19752008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrencyasof

January1,2009.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludesHongKongSAR,theRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.
CountryorArea

1975

2008

1975

1980

1980

1985

1985

1990

1990

1995

1995

2000

2000

2005

2000

2008

2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 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 0.7 5.4 1.7

Mexico1

........................................ 25.8 22.5 51.8 61.1 16.2 17.3 7.2 6.9 6.2 6.5 6.4

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 6.7 11.6 9.6 7.5 3.4 3.4 6.2 5.7 4.8 3.8 6.5

HongKongSAR2

........................... 7.9 14.9 12.5 13.2 8.2 2.7 0.7 1.0 2.2 0.4 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 0.1 0.3 0.9 0.1 2.8

Korea,Republicof....................... 14.9 30.0 13.1 19.6 16.7 10.7 6.9 6.2 8.2 7.7 0.9

NewZealand............................... 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 0.6 1.2 12.9 7.8 8.6

SriLanka...................................... 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 0.8 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

CzechRepublic............................. 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 0.8 0.7 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 0.7 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.5 1.8

UnitedKingdom........................... 7.3 16.5 8.2 7.8 4.7 5.1 4.3 4.0 2.3 4.8 3.4

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 9.3 14.2 18.2 15.1 6.8 5.1 3.8 3.6 3.1 3.7 3.5

OECD3

........................................... 9.2 13.5 15.8 15.8 6.7 5.4 3.8 3.6 2.6 4.1 3.1

Europe4

........................................ 5.6 11.7 8.3 5.5 4.3 3.1 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.9 3.1

EuroArea5

................................... 5.6 11.6 8.8 5.1 4.4 2.7 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.2 3.0

EasternEurope6

........................... 6.0 6.7 6.3 10.3 7.7

EastAsiaexJapan7

...................... 9.6 19.8 10.8 12.3 10.9 5.7 3.4 3.5 7.7 1.7 2.5

Ratesofchangebasedoncompoundratemethod.

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1 ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

2

HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionofChina

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,andPoland.

Table10.ProductionWorkers:Annualpercentchangeinhourlycompensationcostsinnationalcurrencyinmanufacturing,33

countriesorareasandselectedeconomicgroups,selectedyears,19752008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrencyasof

January1,2009.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludesHongKongSAR,theRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.
CountryorArea

1975

2008

1975

1980

1980

1985

1985

1990

1990

1995

1995

2000

2000

2005

2000

2008

2006 2007 2008

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 

Brazil............................................ 5.6 0.0 12.0 11.7 6.2

Canada......................................... 0.1 2.7 3.1 3.2 3.2 1.6 4.2 4.2 6.8 5.6 0.7

Mexico1

........................................ 18.6 11.5 38.3 38.0 15.2 7.5 2.8 2.0 0.1 0.2 1.9

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 1.3 2.7 9.3 2.2 1.0 4.7 5.6 4.9 1.2 11.4 1.7

HongKongSAR2

........................... 1.4 0.1 8.6 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.2

Israel............................................ 23.0 34.1 66.3 10.2 7.7 5.9 1.9 1.7 0.7 7.6 16.3

Japan............................................ 3.2 5.6 1.1 10.5 9.1 2.7 0.4 0.5 5.3 1.2 13.9

Korea,Republicof....................... 2.5 4.4 6.9 4.2 1.7 7.4 2.0 0.4 7.3 2.7 15.4

NewZealand............................... 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 0.1 7.5 11.0 3.8

Singapore.................................... 1.6 2.1 0.5 3.9 5.1 3.9 0.7 2.5 4.8 5.4 6.5

SriLanka...................................... 7.9 15.7 9.5 7.5 4.8 7.8 5.2 4.2 3.3 6.0 2.1

Taiwan......................................... 0.6 1.1 2.0 8.2 0.3 3.3 0.5 0.1 1.2 1.1 4.2

Europe

Austria......................................... 1.9 6.1 9.0 12.8 2.4 7.5 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Belgium........................................ 0.9 4.7 13.2 12.2 2.5 7.6 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

CzechRepublic............................. 7.2 10.0 10.7 6.0 10.1 20.3

Denmark...................................... 0.4 0.4 11.9 11.4 2.0 7.1 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.2 6.9

Finland......................................... 0.3 0.3 9.7 10.1 2.6 7.4 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

France.......................................... 0.1 0.3 14.0 10.5 1.8 6.8 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Germany...................................... 7.5 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Hungary....................................... 14.9 7.2 6.4 5.1 14.4 7.0

Ireland......................................... 0.5 1.5 12.3 9.2 0.7 6.1 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Italy.............................................. 2.1 5.3 14.8 9.8 6.0 4.9 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Luxembourg................................. 0.9 4.7 13.2 12.2 2.5 7.6 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Netherlands................................. 1.6 4.9 9.8 12.7 2.6 7.6 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Norway......................................... 0.2 1.1 10.5 6.6 0.3 6.4 6.5 5.7 0.5 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 0.9 9.1 7.4

Spain............................................ 2.0 4.3 15.9 10.8 3.9 7.1 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

Sweden......................................... 1.4 0.4 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 0.6 4.4 10.9

UnitedKingdom........................... 0.5 0.9 11.0 6.6 2.4 0.8 3.7 2.6 1.3 8.5 7.4

TradeWeightedMeasures

All32ForeignEconomies............ 3.0 2.0 12.3 0.5 2.3 4.4 2.3 2.7 2.1 4.9 3.1

OECD3

........................................... 3.0 1.6 12.4 0.8 2.6 4.6 2.9 2.9 1.9 4.9 2.7

Europe4

........................................ 0.3 2.2 11.2 10.3 0.2 5.8 5.8 5.4 0.9 8.9 5.2

EuroArea5

................................... 0.5 2.2 11.8 11.4 0.7 7.0 6.2 6.0 0.9 9.1 7.4

EasternEurope6

........................... 7.5 8.4 1.8 11.6 16.9

EastAsiaexJapan7

...................... 0.5 0.9 4.0 4.4 0.5 4.2 0.4 0.6 3.7 2.5 2.7

Ratesofchangebasedoncompoundratemethod.

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1 ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

2

HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionofChina

4

EuropereferstotheEuropeancountriesinthisrelease.

6

EasternEuropereferstotheCzechRepublic,Hungary,andPoland.

5

EuroAreareferstoEuropeanUnionmembercountriesinthisreleasethathaveadoptedtheEuroasthecommoncurrencyasof

January1,2009.

7

EastAsiaexJapanincludesHongKongSAR,theRepublicofKorea,thePhilippines,Singapore,andTaiwan.

Table11.ProductionWorkers:Annualpercentchangeinexchangerates(U.S.dollarspernationalcurrencyunit),33countriesorareas

andselectedeconomicgroups,selectedyears,19752008

3

ReferstocountriesinthisreleasethataremembersoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.
CountryorArea CompensationCosts ExchangeRates

Americas

UnitedStates............................... 25.65 1.000

Brazil............................................ 12.70 1.833

Canada......................................... 31.75 1.066

Mexico1

........................................ 34.80 11.14

AsiaandOceania

Australia...................................... 38.05 1.171

HongKongSAR2

........................... 46.01 7.786

Israel............................................ 60.99 3.560

Japan............................................ 2394 103.4

Korea,Republicof....................... 15597 1099

NewZealand............................... 24.45 1.398

Philippines.................................. 58.21 44.44

Singapore.................................... 13.90 1.414

SriLanka...................................... 73.82 108.3

Taiwan......................................... 218.9 31.52

Europe

Austria......................................... 26.41 0.6791

Belgium........................................ 26.77 0.6791

CzechRepublic............................. 176.5 17.06

Denmark...................................... 232.8 5.089

Finland......................................... 25.56 0.6791

France.......................................... 21.46 0.6791

Germany...................................... 24.50 0.6791

Hungary....................................... 1292 171.8

Ireland......................................... 24.30 0.6791

Italy.............................................. 21.31 0.6791

Luxembourg................................. 22.66 0.6791

Netherlands................................. 25.23 0.6791

Norway......................................... 279.3 5.637

Poland.......................................... 19.00 2.300

Portugal........................................ 6.670 0.6791

Spain............................................ 16.07 0.6791

Sweden......................................... 252.8 6.585

Switzerland.................................. 40.15 1.082

UnitedKingdom........................... 15.02 0.5392

Dashmeansdatanotavailable.

1 ForMexico,NAICS3133excludesNAICS324PetroleumandCoalProductsManufacturing.

2

HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionofChina

Table12.ProductionWorkers:Hourlycompensationcostsinnationalcurrencyunitsandexchange

rates,33countriesorareas,2008

Nationalcurrencyunitsare:UnitedStates,dollar;Brazil,real;Canada,dollar;Mexico,peso;Australia,

dollar;HongKongSAR,dollar;Israel,newshekel;Japan,yen;RepublicofKorea,won;NewZealand,dollar;

Philippines,peso;Singapore,dollar;SriLanka,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;UnitedKingdom,pound.

Note:Fordataforallyears19752008,seethesupplementarytablestothisnewsreleaseat

http://www.bls.gov/ilc.