1999 Revised International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends — 2001-04-05

Labor productivity in manufacturing increased in 1999 in 10 of the 11 countries for which comparable data were available, according to revised data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. The productivity increase in the United States was the highest among the countries compared, 6.6 percent. The next largest increases were in the United Kingdom and France. The productivity increase in Belgium was slight, and there was no change in productivity in Norway. (See chart 1.) This release presents revisions to the data contained in a news release (USDL 00-295) issued Oct. 17, 2000. The output series for U.S. manufacturing used for international comparisons differs from the manufacturing series that BLS publishes quarterly on U.S. productivity and costs. Labor productivity for this release is computed as value added output per hour worked. (See technical notes.) PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT: Chart 1.