1996 International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends — 1997-08-15

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported on 1996 developments in manufacturing labor productivity (output per hour) and unit labor costs in the United States and other industrial economies. Manufacturing productivity in the United States increased 3.2 percent in 1996, the same rate as in 1995. Of eight foreign economies for which data are available, only Germany (former West Germany) and Japan had higher rates of productivity growth than the United States. The United Kingdom was the only economy in which productivity fell. (See table A and chart 1.) U.S. productivity growth in 1996 resulted from a combination of a 2.7 percent increase in output and a 0.5 percent decline in labor input, as measured by hours worked.