Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Summary
Technical Contact: USDL: 09-0634 (202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov Media Contact: FOR RELEASE: 10:00 AM EDT (202) 691-5902 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009 Internet Address: http://www.bls.gov/ect EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION-MARCH 2009 Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $29.39 per hour worked in March 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $20.49, accounted for 69.7 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.90, accounted for the remaining 30.3 percent. (See table 1.) Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, based on the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and state and local government workers. Costs for legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation, averaged $2.28 per hour (7.8 percent of total compensation). Employer costs for life, health, and disability insurance benefits averaged $2.52 (8.6 percent); paid leave benefits (vacations, holidays, sick leave, and personal leave) averaged $2.08 (7.1 percent); and retirement and savings benefits averaged $1.31 (4.5 percent) per hour worked. Private industry In March 2009, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $27.46 per hour worked. Wages and salaries averaged $19.45 per hour (70.8 percent), while benefits averaged $8.02 (29.2 percent). Employer costs for paid leave averaged $1.86 per hour worked (6.8 percent), supplemental pay averaged 78 cents (2.8 percent), insurance benefits averaged $2.14 (7.8 percent), retirement and savings averaged 96 cents (3.5 percent), and legally required benefits $2.27 (8.3 percent) per hour worked. (See table 5.) Employer costs for health benefits varied by industry, occupation, bargaining status, region and establishment size. These differences reflect in part, the varying incidence of benefit coverage among these groups. The National Compensation Survey also produces comprehensive data on the percentage of workers with access to and that participate in various employer provided benefit plans. For more information, see the BLS internet site http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/home.htm. Health benefit costs in private industry The average cost for health insurance benefits was $2.00 per hour worked in private industry (7.3 percent of total compensation) in March 2009. In March 1999, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.03, or 5.4 percent of total compensation. Among occupational groups, employer costs for health insurance benefits ranged from 91 cents per hour and 6.7 percent of total compensation for service workers, to $2.91 and 6.0 percent of total compensation for management, professional, and related occupations. Among other occupational categories, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.77 (8.3 percent) for sales and office occupations, lower than $2.44 (7.9 percent) for natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations, and $2.25 (9.7 percent) for production, transportation, and material moving occupations. (See table 5.) Employer costs for health insurance benefits were significantly higher for union workers, averaging $4.15 per hour (11.4 percent), than for nonunion workers, averaging $1.75 (6.6 percent). (See table 5.) In goods-producing industries, health insurance benefit costs were higher, $2.80 per hour (8.7 percent of total compensation), than in service-providing industries, $1.82 per hour (6.9 percent of total compensation). (See table 6.) Within goods-producing industries, health insurance costs were $3.03 per hour (9.5 percent of total compensation) for manufacturing workers, greater than the cost for construction workers ($2.18 and 7.0 percent of compensation.) In service-providing industries, costs ranged from 61 cents in leisure and hospitality (5.1 percent), to $3.16 in the information industry (7.8 percent). (See table 6.) Among the four regions, costs for health insurance benefits ranged from $1.71 per hour in the South to $2.29 in the Northeast. Health care costs were $2.13 in the Midwest and $2.05 in the West. The proportion of total compensation represented by health benefits ranged from 6.9 percent in the West to 8.1 percent in the Midwest. Within census divisions, hourly health benefit costs ranged from $1.62 in the West South Central division to $2.30 in the Middle Atlantic division. (See table 7.) Health insurance benefit costs increased, both in average hourly dollar amount and as a proportion of total compensation, with establishment size. Establishments with fewer than 50 workers averaged $1.30 (6.0 percent), those with 50-99 workers averaged $1.76 (7.1 percent), those with 100-499 employees averaged $2.22 (7.9 percent), and those with 500 or more employees averaged $3.19 (8.2 percent). (See table 8.) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Note The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release for June 2009 is scheduled for release on Thursday, September 10, 2009, at 10:00 AM (EDT). ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: Table 1. Civilian workers, by major occupational and industry group 5 Table 2. Civilian workers, by occupational and industry group 7 Table 3. State and local government workers, by major occupational and industry group 8 Table 4. State and local government workers, by occupational and industry group 9 Table 5. Private industry workers, by major occupational group and bargaining unit status 10 Table 6. Private industry workers, by major industry group 12 Table 7. Private industry workers, by census region and division 14 Table 8. Private industry workers, by establishment employment size 17 Table 9. Private industry workers, goods-producing and service-providing industries, by occupational group 18 Table 10. Private industry workers, by industry group 19 Table 11. Private industry workers, by occupational group and full-time and part-time status 20 Table 12. Private industry workers, by industry group and full-time and part-time status 21 Table 13. Private industry workers, by major industry group and establishment employment size and bargaining unit status 22 Table 14. Private industry health care and social assistance workers, by industry and occupational group 23 Technical Note 24 Note: Supplemental tables with occupational, establishment size, and bargaining status series for detailed industries are available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuptc10.pdf and http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuptc10.txt.
- Table 1. Civilian workers, by major occupational and industry group
- Table 2. Civilian workers, by occupational and industry group
- Table 3. State and local government, by major occupational and industry group
- Table 4. State and local government, by occupational and industry group
- Table 5. Private industry, by major occupational group and bargaining status
- Table 6. Private industry, by major industry group
- Table 7. Private industry, by census region and division, and area
- Table 8. Private industry, by establishment employment size
- Table 9. Private industry, goods-producing and service-providing industries, by occupational group
- Table 10. Private industry, by industry group
- Table 11. Private industry, by occupational group and full-time and part-time status
- Table 12. Private industry, by industry group and full-time and part-time status
- Table 13. Private industry, by major industry group and establishment employment size and bargaining status
- Table 14. Private industry, health care and social assistance workers, by industry and occupational group
- Explanatory Notes
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Last Modified Date: June 10, 2009