June 22, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Private industry compensation $24.17 per hour on average in March 2005

In March 2005, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $24.17 per hour worked.

Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation, private industry, March 2005
[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries averaged $17.15 per hour, while benefits averaged $7.02.

Employer costs for legally required benefits such as Social Security and unemployment insurance averaged $2.10 per hour worked, insurance benefits averaged $1.76, paid leave averaged $1.54, retirement and savings averaged 90 cents, supplemental pay averaged 68 cents, and other benefits averaged 4 cents per hour worked.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-1056.  

 

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