Unit Labour Cost Position of Manufacturing Deteriorates in 1990

The international competitive position of the Austrian manufacturing sector deteriorated in 1990 despite stable unit labour costs. The hefty increase in hourly labour costs by 7.1 percent was offset by an increase in productivity of equal size; but at the same time, the trade-weighted value of the Austrian schilling rose by 3.4 percent, resulting in a worsening of the international unit labour cost position vis-à-vis Austria's trading partners by 0.7 percent. Hourly labour costs in Austria's manufacturing sector were AS 202 in 1990, reaching the EC average, and were about as high as in France and Italy. Productivity in Austria's manufacturing sector which was only about two third of that in West Germany in 1970, attained the West German level in 1990.