S. Korea wage costs exceed Singapore's

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Singapore

South Korea has overtaken Singapore as the newly industrializing Asian economy with the most expensive wage costs, a U.S. Department of Labor report said on Thursday.

A big jump in pay for production workers and a rise in the won against the U.S. dollar propelled South Korea past the city-state last year, according to the data published in The Business Times newspaper.

"Compensation costs in Korea in 2000 rose faster than in any other foreign economy except Mexico, increasing 15.3 percent, following a 24.3 percent increase in 1999," said the report from the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

South Korea's hourly compensation costs, including pay for time worked, holiday and vacation pay, bonuses and perks and taxes shot up from US$7.05 to $8.13, data showed.

Singapore's costs for production workers rose 4.1 percent from 1999 to $7.42 last year, while Hong Kong's increased 1.7 percent to $5.53.

Compensation costs in Taiwan went up 6.4 percent to $5.98.

Collectively, the wage costs of production workers in Asia's newly industrializing economies (NIEs) - South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong - grew 7.7 percent last year.

Despite the increases, wage costs in the NIEs stayed at about one-third of those in the U.S.