Employer Costs for Employee Compensation News Release - 2021 Q04 Results — 2022-03-18

Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $40.35 per hour worked in December 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries cost employers $27.83 and accounted for 69.0 percent of total costs, while benefits cost $12.52 and accounted for the remaining 31.0 percent. (See table 1.) Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $38.07 per hour worked in December 2021. Wage and salary costs averaged $26.86 and accounted for 70.5 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs were $11.22 and accounted for 29.5 percent. (See tables 1 and 4.) State and local government employer costs averaged $54.96 per hour worked. Wages and salaries averaged $34.09 per hour worked and represented 62.0 percent of total compensation costs, while benefit costs averaged $20.87 and accounted for the remaining 38.0 percent.