DATE=8/31/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=I-L-O/LABOR TRENDS (L-O)

NUMBER=2-307029

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

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INTRO: The International Labor Organization reports that productivity in the United States accelerated in 2002, surpassing Europe and Japan in terms of annual output per worker for the first substantial period since World War Two. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports a new I-L-O study on worldwide labor trends says the United States has widened the productivity gap with the rest of the world.

TEXT: Globally, the I-L-O study finds growth in productivity per person increased from one-point-five-percent during the first half of the 1990s, to nearly two-percent in the second half.

The report notes most of this growth was concentrated in industrialized economies as well as in some Asian nations, notably China, India, Pakistan and Thailand. But data shows a decline in total productivity growth in African and Latin American economies.

The study says the United States is about twice as productive as the European Union and Japan. But it attributes part of the difference in per worker output to the fact that Americans work longer hours than their European counterparts. When measured on an hourly basis, the I-L-O finds European workers to be more productive.

I-L-O economist Dorothea Schmidt notes that the work week in many European countries is shorter than that in the United States. Yet, figures for Norway, France, and Belgium show people produce more for every hour they work than do those in the United States.

/// SCHMIDT ACT ///

And the why? I think there are many, many reasons. One might be that during the time that these people work, they work more efficiently. It might be that the technology they use enables them to be more efficient in this one hour. I think if you work 15 hours a day, of course there are hours that are not as productive as if you work six hours a day.

/// END ACT ///

For the first time, the I-L-O examines agricultural productivity. It notes that this sector remains the primary employer in many developing economies. Yet, productivity levels in agriculture remain higher in richer countries than in poorer ones.

For example, the study finds that an agricultural worker in the United States produces more than 650 times more than an agricultural worker in Vietnam.

Ms. Schmidt says a lot of the difference can be attributed to the modern technologies and the large subsidies received by farmers in the United States and in the European Union.

/// SCHMIDT 2nd ACT ///

If you talk about developing countries, it is not really fair to say these people are not efficient. They are working hard. They are probably working harder than other people. But, it is just that they do not have the technology that they cannot perform that well. But, having said that, I think the fact these modern technologies are used are also the outcome of subsidies. So this is actually just going hand in hand.

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The I-L-O says agrarian economies eventually will have to shift to more modern ones. But, for the time being, they say, measures must be taken to improve their productivity, to help reduce poverty. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/ALW/RAE

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