(202) 691-5902 Wednesday, December 11, 2002 — 2002-12-11

In September 2002, employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers in private industry and State and local government in the United States averaged $23.44 per hour worked, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $16.93, accounted for 72.2 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.51, accounted for the remaining 27.8 percent. (See table 1.) Legally required benefits averaged $1.85 per hour (7.9 percent of total compensation), representing the largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.60 (6.8 percent), insurance benefits averaged $1.67 (7.1 percent), and retirement and savings benefits averaged 80 cents (3.4 percent) per hour worked. In September 2002, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $22.01 per hour worked.