[Economic Report of the President (1998)]
[Administration of William J. Clinton]
[Online through the Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]



Table B-109.--Civilian unemployment rate, and hourly compensation, major industrial countries, 1972-97
[Quarterly data seasonally adjusted]
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United                                 Ger-              United
Year or quarter                States     Canada    Japan    France   many \1\   Italy   Kingdom
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(6)Civilian unemployment rate (Percent) \2\

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1972........................................       5.6       6.2      1.4      2.9        0.7     3.8        4.2
1973........................................       4.9       5.5      1.3      2.8         .7     3.7        3.2
1974........................................       5.6       5.3      1.4      2.9        1.6     3.1        3.1
1975........................................       8.5       6.9      1.9      4.2        3.4     3.4        4.6
1976........................................       7.7       7.2      2.0      4.6        3.4     3.9        5.9
1977........................................       7.1       8.1      2.0      5.2        3.4     4.1        6.4
1978........................................       6.1       8.4      2.3      5.4        3.3     4.1        6.3
1979........................................       5.8       7.5      2.1      6.1        2.9     4.4        5.4

1980........................................       7.1       7.5      2.0      6.5        2.8     4.4        7.0
1981........................................       7.6       7.6      2.2      7.6        4.0     4.9       10.5
1982........................................       9.7      11.0      2.4      8.3        5.6     5.4       11.3
1983........................................       9.6      11.9      2.7      8.6    \3\ 6.9     5.9       11.8
1984........................................       7.5      11.3      2.8     10.0        7.1     5.9       11.7
1985........................................       7.2      10.5      2.6     10.5        7.2     6.0       11.2
1986........................................       7.0       9.6      2.8     10.6        6.6  \3\ 7.
5       11.2
1987........................................       6.2       8.9      2.9     10.8        6.3     7.9       10.3
1988........................................       5.5       7.8      2.5     10.3        6.3     7.9        8.6
1989........................................       5.3       7.5      2.3      9.6        5.7     7.8        7.2

1990........................................   \3\ 5.6       8.1      2.1      9.1        5.0     7.0        6.9
1991........................................       6.8      10.4      2.1      9.6      p 4.3  \3\ 6.
9        8.8
1992........................................       7.5      11.3      2.2  \3\ 10.
4      p 7.3       10.1
1993........................................       6.9      11.2      2.5     11.8      p
10.2       10.5
1994........................................   \3\ 6.1      10.4      2.9     12.3      p 11.3        9.7
1995........................................       5.6       9.5      3.2     11.8      p 12.0        8.7
1996........................................       5.4       9.7      3.4     12.6      p 8.2
1997........................................       4.9       9.2  .......  .......  .........  .........

1996: I.....................................       5.6       9.5      3.3     12.3        6.9    12.0        8.3
II....................................       5.4       9.6      3.5     12.5        7.1    12.5        8.3
III...................................       5.3       9.8      3.4     12.7        7.2    11.9        8.2
IV....................................       5.3       9.9      3.3     12.7        7.5    12.0        7.9

1997: I.....................................       5.3       9.6      3.3     12.6        7.7    12.3        7.5
II....................................       4.9       9.4      3.5     12.7        7.7    12.7        7.3
III...................................       4.9       9.0      3.4     12.7        7.8    11.9        6.9
IV....................................       4.7       8.9  .......  .......  .........    12.2  .........
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(6)Manufacturing hourly compensation in U.S.
dollars (Index, 1992=100)\4\

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1972........................................      26.6      25.8      9.2     13.6       12.6    12.6       12.0
1973........................................      28.6      27.7     12.5     17.7       17.2    14.9       13.4
1974........................................      31.8      32.6     15.3     19.4       20.0    17.4       15.4
1975........................................      35.6      35.8     17.5     26.6       23.2    21.9       19.5
1976........................................      38.6      42.3     18.8     27.4       24.4    21.4       18.3
1977........................................      42.0      43.5     23.0     30.2       28.9    23.8       20.0
1978........................................      45.4      43.6     31.5     37.2       36.0    28.5       25.7
1979........................................      49.8      46.8     32.0     44.6       42.3    35.3       33.8

1980........................................      55.8      51.8     32.9     51.8       46.3    40.3       44.6
1981........................................      61.3      58.2     36.1     46.6       39.7    36.6       45.1
1982........................................      67.2      62.5     33.5     45.7       38.9    36.2       42.9
1983........................................      69.0      66.4     36.1     43.6       38.7    37.8       39.9
1984........................................      71.4      66.1     37.2     41.3       36.4    37.5       38.0
1985........................................      75.3      66.0     38.5     43.5       37.2    38.8       40.4
1986........................................      78.6      67.4     57.3     58.7       52.6    51.7       49.6
1987........................................      80.8      72.7     68.3     70.2       66.5    62.8       61.5
1988........................................      84.0      81.8     78.4     73.5       70.7    65.0       71.2
1989........................................      86.8      88.2     77.3     72.3       69.2    67.8       69.7

1990........................................      91.0      94.5     79.3     89.2       86.4    86.3       84.3
1991........................................      95.7     102.4     90.3     90.3       89.4    92.5       93.2
1992........................................     100.0     100.0    100.0    100.0      100.0   100.0      100.0
1993........................................     102.9      93.7    119.3     96.8      100.1    83.9       90.7
1994........................................     105.6      90.3    132.4    101.4      108.0    81.5       95.3
1995........................................     108.7      91.5    148.4    114.3      128.2    82.6       99.0
1996........................................     112.2      96.1    130.1    113.8      128.1    93.5      101.6
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\1\ Data are for West Germany only.
\2\ Civilian unemployment rates, approximating U.S. concepts. Quarterly data for France and Germany should be
viewed as less precise indicators of unemployment under U.S. concepts than the annual data.
\3\ There are breaks in the series for Germany (1983), France (1992), Italy (1986, 1991, and 1993), and United
States (1990 and 1994). Based on the prior series, the rate for Germany was 7.2 percent in 1983, the rate for
France was 10.5 in 1992, 11.9 in 1993, 12.7 in 1994 and 12.3 in 1995, and the rate for Italy was 6.3 percent
in 1986 and 6.6 in 1991. The break in 1993 raised Italy's rate by approximately 1 percentage point. For
details on break in series in 1990 and 1994 for United States, see footnote 5, Table B-35.
\4\ Hourly compensation in manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis. Data relate to all employed persons (wage and
salary earners and the self- employed) in the United States, Canada, Japan, France, and Germany, and to all
employees (wage and salary earners) in the other countries. For France and United Kingdom, compensation
adjusted to include changes in employment taxes that are not compensation to employees, but are labor costs to
employers.

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.