June 17, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.) Cost of health benefits: $1.64 per hour in March 2005The average employer cost for health benefits was $1.64 per hour worked in private industry in March 2005—6.8 percent of total compensation. Five years earlier, in March 2000, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.09, or 5.5 percent of total compensation. Employer costs for health benefits varied by industry, occupation, bargaining status, region, and establishment size. For example, in goods-producing industries in March 2005, health benefit costs were higher, $2.28 per hour, than in service-providing industries, $1.48 per hour. Another example: Employer costs for health benefits were significantly higher for union workers, averaging $3.41 per hour, than for nonunion workers, averaging $1.42. These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-1056. |
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