Chapter 12.
Foreign Labor Statistics

Uses and Limitations
The principal uses of information on foreign labor statistics are to:

• Assess U.S. economic performance relative to other industrial countries;
• Inform Government and private officials of foreign economic developments that may affect U.S. international economic policy;
• Evaluate the competitive position of the United States in international trade;
• Review foreign experience for possible application domestically; and
• Provide labor statistics and related information to individuals, corporations, labor unions, and others concerned with foreign investment and development.

Although considerable progress has been made in making international economic statistics more uniform among countries, e.g., through the work of international agencies such as the United Nations, the International Labour Office, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Statistical Office of the European Union, international statistical comparisons should be used cautiously. Nevertheless, through careful analysis of each country’s data, valid statistical comparisons can be made.

Whenever possible, BLS adjusts foreign data, if necessary, for greater consistency with U.S. measures; in some cases, data are sufficiently similar in definition and concept for valid comparisons without adjustment. Moreover, when conceptual differences are substantial, the Bureau attempts to describe the differences in sufficient detail, in publications and in notes to statistical tabulations, to provide guidance in the interpretation of the data.

The limitations of the data are less serious for the Bureau’s published measures than for the unpublished tabulations, where either no adjustments are made to the foreign data or where the adjustments made do not deal with some fundamental deficiencies. Despite their limitations, however, the unpublished tabulations are considered useful for analysis.

Discusses the treatment of persons on layoff in the Bureau’s international comparisons of unemployment.

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