2004 International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing — 2005-11-18

Average hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing in 31 foreign economies climbed to 78 percent of the U.S. level in 2004, up from 73 percent in 2003, according to data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Compensation costs relative to the United States rose in nearly all the economies covered in 2004, with Europe showing a relatively large increase. (See table 1.) Data for Hungary, a relatively low labor cost country, are included in this release for the first time. In the United States, hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing increased 4.0 percent in 2004, to $23.17. Although average costs in the United States were higher than those in all the economies covered outside of Europe, 12 of the European countries had higher hourly compensation costs than the United States, in a few cases more than 40 percent higher.