May 16, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Trends in health insurance

In March 1999, health insurance accounted for 5.4 percent of total compensation in private industry, the same as in 1998.

Health insurance as a percentage of total compensation, private industry, March 1991-March 1999
[Chart data—TXT]

Health insurance rose as a proportion of compensation in the early 1990s and peaked in 1994. The proportion increased from 6.0 percent in 1991 to 6.7 percent in 1994. Then the percentage dropped to 6.2 percent in 1995 and 5.9 percent in 1996. Since then, health insurance as a proportion of compensation has been about 5-1/2 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Employment Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-99," BLS Bulletin 2526.

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