2007 International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends — 2008-09-26

Manufacturing labor productivity increased in 2007 in 14 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 of 8.7 percent each, while Germany followed with an increase of 5.0 percent. The United States productivity increase of 4.1 percent was the fourth largest among the 16 economies compared. Italy and Norway both had declines in productivity (-0.5 and -0.2 percent, respectively). Over the 2000-2007 period, of the 16 economies studied, only Korea, Taiwan, and Sweden had greater productivity growth in manufacturing than the United States. Average annual growth rates for selected measures over various time periods are shown in tables A and B. The data presented for the United States differ from those appearing in BLS Productivity and Costs news releases.