(202) 691-5902 Tuesday, December 11, 2007 — 2007-12-11

Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $28.03 per hour worked in September 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor�s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $19.56, accounted for 69.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.47, accounted for the remaining 30.2 percent. Employers averaged $2.35 for life, health, and disability insurance or 8.4 percent of total compensation. In addition to insurance, the other benefit categories were: legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers� compensation, which averaged $2.22 (7.9 percent of total compensation); paid leave benefits (vacations, holidays, sick leave, and other leave), which averaged $1.95 (7.0 percent); retirement and savings, which averaged $1.22 per hour (4.4 percent of total compensation); and supplemental pay (overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses), which averaged 72 cents per hour worked.