(202) 691-5902 Wednesday, December 15, 2004 — 2004-12-15

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $25.36 per hour worked in September 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $17.96, accounted for 70.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $7.40, accounted for the remaining 29.2 percent. (See table 1.) Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, based on the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and State and local government workers. Costs for legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation, averaged $2.06 per hour (8.1 percent of total compensation), representing the largest non- wage employer cost. Employer costs for life, health, and disability insurance benefits averaged $1.96 (7.7 percent); paid leave benefits (vacations, holidays, sick leave, and other leave) averaged $1.68 (6.6 percent); and retirement and savings benefits averaged $1.05 (4.1 percent) per hour worked.