U.S. Wages Will Be 58 Times Indonesia’s By 2019
Manufacturing wages in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines will rise quickly, while staying well below China's
An employee installs components onto refrigerators on the production line at the Sharp Corp. factory in Karawang, Indonesia.
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Factory workers in the U.S. will be paid 58 times those in Indonesia in five years, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. If that seems like a big difference, consider this: U.S. wages are 76 times Indonesia’s today.
Hourly manufacturing wages in the U.S. will rise 12 percent to $42.82 by 2019, according to the EIU. While Indonesia's wages are forecast to increase at a much faster pace -- gaining 48 percent -- they would still only be 74 cents an hour in five years. That's way lower than China’s $4.79, Vietnam's $3.16 and the Philippines's $3.15.