2006 International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends — 2007-09-27

Manufacturing labor productivity increased in 2006 in 15 of the 16 economies compared by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. (See chart 1.) The Republic of Korea and Taiwan had the largest productivity increases (+10.8 and +6.9 percent, respectively). The U.S. productivity increase of 2.4 percent placed it eleventh among the 16 economies compared, and was less than the average annual growth rate since 2000. Canada was the only country with no productivity growth. Over the 2000-2006 period, in the 16 economies studied, only Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan had greater productivity growth than the United States. The data presented for the United States differ from those appearing in BLS Productivity and Costs news releases. (See technical notes.) Average annual growth rates for selected measures are shown in tables A and B. PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT: Chart 1.