Employer Costs for Employee Compensation News Release — 2012-06-07

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $30.69 per hour worked in March 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $21.27 per hour worked and accounted for 69.3 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.42 and accounted for the remaining 30.7 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $28.78 per hour worked in March 2012. Total employer compensation costs for State and local government workers averaged $41.16 per hour worked in March 2012. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and State and local government workers. Total compensation, wages and salaries, and benefit costs in private industry are included in table 15 of this release for 15 combined and metropolitan statistical areas (CSAs and MSAs).