HL Deb 30 October 1984 vol 456 c508WA
Lord Diamond

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What has been the increase in competitiveness of United Kingdom manufactures over the most recent 12 months for which figures are available as compared with the USA, Germany, France and Japan.

Lord Lucas of Chilworth

The information, based on relative unit labour costs, is in the table.

CHANGES IN RELATIVE UNIT LABOUR COSTS IN MANUFACTURES TO 2ND QUARTER 1984
per cent.
UK USA FR of Germany France Japan
Actual −1.1 + 7.6 −1.4 −1.6 +4.3
Normalised2 −1.5 +6.0 −4.9 −1.8 +6.9

Notes:

1. Negative figures indicate increased competitiveness. These changes are based on indices for the second quarter of 1984 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

2. In the normalised series an attempt is made to eliminate distortions caused by differences between the cyclical swings of employment and output.

Source: IMF.