Employer Costs for Employee Compensation News Release — 2014-03-12

(Note: As a result of problems implementing the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data for December 2013 and March 2014 contained errors in several occupational and industry series. The database and historical listings will be updated on September 10, 2014; this news release will not be corrected. For further information see www.bls.gov/bls/ecec_correction_091014.htm.) Private industry employers spent an average of $29.63 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $20.76 per hour worked and accounted for 70.1 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.87 and accounted for the remaining 29.9 percent. Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $42.89 per hour worked in December 2013. Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $31.57 per hour worked in December 2013.