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.) 


Chart 1.  Hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for
          production workers in manufacturing, 1975-2006

PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT.


                                 -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.)


Chart 2. Indexes of hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars
         for production workers in manufacturing, 2006

PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT.


     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.


BOX: 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.

END OF BOX: A note on the measures 


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). 


BOX: 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


               National           U.S.           Index	
Year           Currency           Dollar         (United 
               Basis              Basis          States
               (Yuan)             (US$)          =100)

2002           4.73               0.57           3
2003           5.17               0.62           3
2004           5.50               0.67           3

END OF BOX: China


                                 -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


                          Hourly                 Hourly
Country                compensation,          compensation,
or area                  national    Exchange     U.S.
                         currency     Rates     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                    4.2         .9        5.2
  Hungary                   8.2       -5.1        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 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


Country           Production  All        Production  All         All Employees
or Area           Workers     Employees  Workers     Employees   (Production
                  (US=100)    (US=100)   (US$)       (US$)       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 SAR (1)    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 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 from 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). 

     BLS also computes comparative measures for 22 component 
manufacturing industries.  Data for 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 Internet (http://www.bls.gov/fls).  This series 
is updated several times per year as data become available.  The data 
for component industries currently are available on a North American 
Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis from 1992 to 2005. 

     For further information, contact the Office of Productivity and 
Technology by phone at 202-691-5654, by e-mail at flshc@bls.gov, or 
by mail at Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, 
Room 2150, Washington, DC 20212.  

     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.
                                 -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 self-employed, 
unpaid family workers, and workers in private households are also excluded.


                                 -10-

Hourly Compensation Costs consists of:
     * Hourly Direct Pay
         - Pay for Time Worked
             + Basic wages
             + Piece rate
             + Overtime premiums
             + Shift differentials
             + Bonuses and premiums paid regularly
             + Cost-of-living adjustments
         - Other Direct Pay  
             + Pay for time not worked (vacations, holidays, and other leave, 
               except sick leave)
             + Seasonal and  irregular bonuses
             + Social allowances
             + Pay in kind
     * Employer Social Insurance Expenditures (both legally required and contractual
       and private) and Other Labor Taxes
         - 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 


                                 -12-
                                 
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 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           2004        Country or area             2004
and economic             trade        and economic               trade
group                    share        group                      share

 
Argentina                  0.3        Germany                      5.6 
Brazil                     1.7        Greece                       0.1
Canada                    20.0        Hungary                      0.2
Mexico                    12.5        Ireland                      1.9
                                      Italy                        2.0
Australia                  1.1        Luxembourg                   0.1
Hong Kong SAR(1)           1.3        Netherlands                  1.8
Israel                     1.2        Norway                       0.2
Japan                      9.4        Poland                       0.1
Korea, Republic of         3.7        Portugal                     0.2
New Zealand                0.2        Slovakia                     0.1
Philippines                0.8        Spain                        0.7
Singapore                  1.8        Sweden                       0.8
Sri Lanka                  0.1        Switzerland                  1.0
Taiwan                     2.9        United Kingdom               3.8

Austria                    0.4        Economic Groups (2)
Belgium                    1.5        33 foreign economies        75.5
Czech Republic             0.1        OECD(3)                     66.2
Denmark                    0.3        Europe                      22.4
Finland                    0.3        Euro Area (4)               16.1
France                     2.7        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 other countries, such as 


                                 -14-
                                 
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.