March 20, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Private-industry compensation averages $22.14 per hour in December

In December 2002, employer costs for employee compensation in private industry averaged $22.14 per hour worked.

[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries, which averaged $16.08, accounted for 72.6 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.07, accounted for the remainder.

Legally required benefits, such as Social Security and unemployment insurance, were $1.85 per hour on average, representing the largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.47 per hour, insurance benefits $1.46 per hour, and retirement and savings benefits 64 cents per hour.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, December 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-130.