Private-sector compensation costs near $28/hour

WASHINGTON — Private industry employers spent an average of $27.64 per hour worked for employee compensation in June 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Wages and salaries averaged $19.53 per hour worked and accounted for 70.6 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.11 and accounted for the remaining 29.4 percent.

Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.74 per hour worked in June 2010.

Total compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $29.52 per hour worked in June 2010.

Private industry employer costs for retirement and savings benefits varied by occupational group. Private industry retirement and savings benefit costs for management, professional and related occupations were $1.89 per hour, or 3.9 percent of total compensation, in June 2010. Costs were lowest among service occupations, 21 cents, or 1.5 percent of total compensation. Included in this amount were employer costs for defined benefit and defined contribution plans.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries and employee benefits for non-farm private and state and local government workers.