HOW INDEXES HAVE CHANGED

Gerald L. Farrar Contributing Editor The accompanying table at right compares-refinery construction and operating wages monthly for the years 1988 and 1989. The Nelson-Farrar refinery construction cost indexes are inflation indexes, while the operating indexes have a productivity factor which shows improvement with experience and the increasing size of operations. The refinery construction wage indexes in the table show a steady advance over the 2-year period, with component indexes varying

Jan. 7, 1991

Gerald L. Farrar
Contributing Editor

The accompanying table at right compares-refinery construction and operating wages monthly for the years 1988 and 1989.

The Nelson-Farrar refinery construction cost indexes are inflation indexes, while the operating indexes have a productivity factor which shows improvement with experience and the increasing size of operations.

The refinery construction wage indexes in the table show a steady advance over the 2-year period, with component indexes varying from 1388.0 in January 1988, to 1469.5 in December 1989.

Common labor indexes moved up faster than skilled indexes. The common labor index stood at 1651.5 at the start of the period and 1752.2 at the end.

Refinery operation wages showed a steady increase, while productivities averaged higher near the end of the period. Net result of the two effects is that labor costs remained rather steady for the period, with a little dropoff at the end. Labor costs index averaged 260.8 for 1988 and 257.4 for 1989. Lowest operating labor cost for the 2-year span was 239.6 in August 1989, while the highest was 277.6 in December 1989.