Updated data for 1996 International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing — 1998-02-09

Data from new labor cost surveys for Japan and European Union countries have been incorporated on a preliminary basis into the international comparisons series of hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. The series also include more current earnings and additional compensation data for those and other countries. Also, 1996 data are now available for four additional countries. With the exception of France and Finland, the position of each country and country group relative to the United States is similar to that presented in the June 27, 1997 News Release (USDL: 97-213). For the 28 foreign economies studied, the trade-weighted average hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing were about 90 percent of the United States cost level in 1996. Between 1995 and 1996, costs in Canada rose slightly to 94 percent of the U.S.