Employer Costs For Employee Compensation-December 2002 — 2003-03-18

In December 2002, employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers in private industry and State and local government in the United States averaged $23.66 per hour worked, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $17.06, accounted for 72.1 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.60, accounted for the remaining 27.9 percent. (See table 1.) Legally required benefits averaged $1.86 per hour (7.9 percent of total compensation), representing the largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for insurance benefits averaged $1.69 (7.1 percent), paid leave benefits averaged $1.62 (6.8 percent), and retirement and savings benefits averaged 82 cents (3.5 percent) per hour worked. In December 2002, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $22.14 per hour worked.