2011 International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends — 2012-12-06

Manufacturing productivity increased in 2011 in 15 of 19 countries covered, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Labor productivity (output per hour) rose by more than 2 percent in the majority of countries (see chart 1). These productivity increases were generally driven by gains in output coupled with modest changes in hours (see chart 2). The data presented for the United States differ from those in the BLS Productivity and Costs news release. (See technical notes.) PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT: Chart 1. Percent changes in manufacturing output per hour, 2010-2011 PRINTED COPY CONTAINS CHART AT THIS POINT: Chart 2. Percent changes in manufacturing output and hours, 2010-2011 In 2011, only the United Kingdom had larger productivity growth in manufacturing than in the previous year; in all other countries, productivity growth slowed down or declined.