U.S. manufacturing productivity rose 3.5% in 1984.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States ranked ninth in a survey of 10 industrial nations. Japan’s 9.5% growth in productivity from the previous year outpaced the increases of the other countries surveyed. The bureau reported that U.S. growth exceeded only that of Norway, which rose by 1.7%. Unit labor costs, which reflect changes in productivity and hourly compensation, remained unchanged in the United States. Unit labor costs fell in Canada, Japan and West Germany and rose in the other European countries. When measured in U.S. dollars, however, unit labor costs fell in all of the foreign countries because of the continued appreciation of the U.S. dollar against all other foreign currencies except the Japanese yen. Top 10 Nations in Productivity Increased output per hour in 1984

Japan 9.5% Sweden 6.8 Italy 6.3 France 5.0 West Germany 4.7 Denmark 4.1 Canada 4.0 Britain 3.9 United States 3.5 Norway 1.7