HL Deb 23 February 1987 vol 485 cc85-6WA
Lord Diamond

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the figures underlying the statement of the Secretary of State for Employment on 28th January (H.L. Deb., col. 1332) that "Our unit wage costs …are beneath those of our principal overseas competitors".

The Secretary of State for Employment (Lord Young of Graffham)

Figures for unit wage costs in manufacturing published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in December 1986 showed that in the third quarter of 1986 unit wage costs for Germany and Japan were about 5 per cent. higher than for the same quarter in 1985. The corresponding increase in the United Kingdom was 3.7 per cent. A copy of the relevant OECD publication Main Economic Indicators is available in the Library.