Employer Costs For Employee Compensation-March 2003 — 2003-06-11

In March 2003, employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers in private industry and State and local government in the United States averaged $23.93 per hour worked, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $17.17, accounted for 71.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.76, accounted for the remaining 28.2 percent. (See table 1.) Benefits, as a percentage of total compensation, have risen in the past three years from 27.4 percent of total compensation in March 2000. Legally required benefits averaged $1.89 per hour (7.9 percent of total compensation), representing the largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.63 (6.8 percent), insurance benefits averaged $1.77 (7.4 percent), and retirement and savings benefits averaged 85 cents (3.6 percent) per hour worked. In March 2003, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $22.37 per hour worked.