June 14, 2010 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Health insurance benefit costs in private industry, March 2010
In March 2010, the average cost for health insurance benefits was $2.08 per hour worked in private industry. Among occupational groups, employer costs for health insurance benefits ranged from 92 cents per hour for service workers, to $3.03 per hour for management, professional, and related occupations.
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In March 2010, among other occupational groups, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.87 per hour worked for sales and office occupations, lower than $2.49 per hour for natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations, and $2.34 per hour for production, transportation, and material moving occupations.
Employer costs for health insurance benefits were significantly higher for union workers, averaging $4.38 per hour worked, than for nonunion workers, averaging $1.82 per hour.
In goods-producing industries, health insurance benefit costs were higher, at $2.88 per hour worked, than in service-providing industries, at $1.92 per hour.
Among the four regions, costs for health insurance benefits ranged from $1.78 per hour worked in the South to $2.40 per hour in the Northeast. Health care costs were $2.21 per hour in the Midwest and $2.11 per hour in the West.
These data are from the Compensation Cost Trends program. To learn more, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — March 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0774. Benefit costs include paid leave, supplemental pay, insurance benefits, retirement and savings, and legally required benefits.
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