2007 International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing — 2009-03-26

The trade-weighted average of hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for all employees in manufacturing among 31 foreign economies was 85 percent of the U.S. level in 2007, increasing from 79 percent in 2006, 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 all but one of the economies covered in 2007. (See table 1.) This news release contains data for production workers in addition to the series for all employees. (See discussion on page 6, table B, and table 7.) A note on China's labor costs appears on page 6 of this release. In the United States, hourly compensation costs for all employees in manufacturing rose 1.9 percent from the 2006 level to $30.56 in 2007. When measured in national currency terms, trade-weighted average costs increased 3.4 percent in the combined 31 foreign economies in 2007.