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According to the quarterly survey of National Compensation, published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, employer costs for employee compensation averaged $26.05 per hour worked in September 2005. Wages and salaries, which averaged $18.28, accounted for 70.2% of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $7.77, accounted for the remaining 29.8%.
Costs for legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation, averaged $2.13 per hour (8.2% of total compensation). Employer costs for life, health, and disability insurance benefits averaged $2.10 (8.0%); paid leave benefits (vacations, holidays, sick leave, and other leave) averaged $1.72 (6.6%); and retirement and savings benefits averaged $1.13 (4.3%) per hour worked.
In September 2005, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $24.34 per hour worked. Wages and salaries averaged $17.23 per hour (70.8%), while benefits averaged $7.11 (29.2%). Employer costs for paid leave averaged $1.55 per hour worked (6.4%), supplemental pay averaged 71 cents (2.9%), insurance benefits averaged $1.78 (7.3%), retirement and savings averaged 90 cents (3.7%), and legally required benefits $2.14 (8.8%) per hour worked.
In the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which struck the Gulf Coast during the reference period for the survey, the data from non-responding establishments account for less than 1% of the overall sample. There does not appear to have been any tangible effects on the estimates.
More specific information is available for civilian workers, state and local government workers and private industry workers, broken down by occupational and industrial groups, by census regions, divisions and areas, and by establishment employment size and bargaining status.
...back to 15 December 2005
Further information:
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
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For Payroll and Human Resource Professionals
