July 6, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Wages and benefits highest in Northeast

In March 2000, workers in private industry in the Northeast received the highest wages and salaries per hour of any region. Wages and salaries of private industry workers averaged $16.37 per hour in the Northeast, compared to $15.45 in the West, $13.91 in the Midwest, and $13.09 in the South.

[Chart data—TXT]

Moreover, the average cost to private employers of benefits was also the highest in the Northeast. Workers in the private sector in the Northeast were paid $6.30 per hour on average in benefits in March 2000, which was $0.87 more per hour than the amount received by workers in the West, who had the next highest benefits. Benefits per hour in the Northeast were $0.98 more per hour than the average in the Midwest and $1.58 more per hour than in the South.

These data are a product of the BLS Employment Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2000," news release USDL 00-186.