June 20, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Average compensation $23.15 per hour in March

In March 2002, employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers in the United States averaged $23.15 per hour worked.

[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries, which averaged $16.76, accounted for 72.4 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.39, accounted for the remaining 27.6 percent.

Legally required benefits were $1.80 per hour on average, representing the largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for insurance benefits were $1.61 per hour, paid leave benefits were $1.59 per hour, and retirement and savings benefits 80 cents per hour.

These data are a product of the BLS Employment Cost Trends program.  Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2002," news release USDL 02-346.  Civilian workers include private industry and State and local government workers.

Note: The publication schedule for the "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation" news release will change this year.  Future publications will be issued on a quarterly basis, with data collected for the pay period including the 12^th day of the survey months of March, June, September, and December.  Publications will be issued approximately three months after the month of reference.  Data will be available on a quarterly basis beginning with June 2002 data.