Hi Danny:
This sounds like an easy question, but it isn't.
First, you need to define your terms more precisely. It sounds like you are looking for
the changes that have occurred within the manufacturing sector of the US economy. That
said, it might not be possible to break out the statistics for labor costs out of the
total for all wages in all industries. (Depends how the government keeps their numbers.)
Also, I presume you are looking for info for the US alone. You might be able to find those
numbers - but you might not be able to determine what's happening worldwide with any
accuracy. Unfortunately, that might also be important to know because much of
manufacturing is moving outside the US, and rather rapidly.
There are also confounding factors in the statistics which means that you'll have to
rely on real data rather than "ballpark" percentages pulled out of the sky. While there
has definitely been price inflation over the period, it may be that the real cost of wages
and parts has actually gone down. That's because labor efficiency has increased and
technology has changed the way things are done over that period. Those factors tend to
move things in the other direction. That makes it hard to say who won the tug of war
without any actual data.
I really couldn't give you even an approximation myself, but I'd suggest the following:
-
Take a look at a book called "The Statistical Abstract of the US." Almost every library
has this (publ by the US gov) and it's loaded with charts and tables. Probably covers this
- or something close. (Might be available on the web these days. I don't know.)
-
Talk to the reference librarian at the library. They can give you the best advice about
how to search this out - and maybe give you better ideas on defining your search so it's
more doable.
If you track this down, let me know what you find. It would be interesting and possibly
useful.
Good luck!
Ed
Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
The Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping
