Average compensation costs exceed $27 per hour

by Wally Northway

Published: March 12,2010

Tags: compensation costs, employee benefits, employer costs, wages and salaries

Private industry employers spent an average of $27.42 per hour worked for total employee compensation in Dec. 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Wages and salaries averaged $19.41 per hour worked and accounted for 70.8 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.00 and accounted for the remaining 29.2 percent.

Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.60 per hour worked in Dec. 2009.

Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $29.37 per hour worked in Dec. 2009.

Private industry employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.86 per hour worked. Private industry paid leave benefit costs were highest for management, professional and related occupations, $4.05 per hour, or 8.4 percent of total compensation, in Dec. 2009. Costs were lowest among service occupations, 58 cents, or 4.2 percent of total compensation.

Close this Window Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks