EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – SEPTEMBER 2017

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $35.64 per hour worked in September 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $24.33 per hour worked and accounted for 68.3 percent of these costs, while benefit costs averaged $11.31 and accounted for the remaining 31.7 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $33.55 per hour worked in September 2017. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $48.78 per hour worked in September 2017.

Highlights of employer compensation costs per hour worked for state and local government workers, September 2017:

• State and local government employers spent an average of $48.78 per hour worked for employee total compensation.

• Employer costs for wages and salaries averaged $30.54 per hour and accounted for 62.6 percent of compensation costs. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs for benefits averaged $18.24 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 37.4 percent. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs by occupational group ranged from $33.64 per hour worked for sales and office workers to $58.76 per hour worked for management, professional, and related workers.

This major occupational group includes teachers, whose compensation costs averaged $64.77 per hour worked. Service workers averaged $35.59. (See table 4.)

• Employers spent $5.56 per hour worked, or 11.4 percent of total compensation for retirement and savings benefits. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs for retirement and savings for management, professional, and related workers averaged $6.68 per hour worked. Employer costs for retirement and savings for sales and office workers averaged $3.44, and service workers averaged $4.48. (See table 4.)

• Included in retirement and savings benefits were employer costs for defined benefit plans, which averaged $5.16 per hour (10.6 percent of total compensation), and defined contribution plans, which averaged 39 cents (0.8 percent). (See chart 2 and table 3.)

• Insurance benefit costs averaged $5.80 per hour, or 11.9 percent of total compensation.

The largest component of insurance costs was health insurance, which averaged $5.65, or 11.6 percent of total compensation. (See chart 2 and table 3.)

• Employer costs for paid leave include vacation, holiday, sick leave, and personal leave.

The average cost for paid leave was $3.68 per hour worked for state and local government employees. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs for legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance (both state and federal), and workers’ compensation, averaged $2.71 per hour worked. (See table 3.)

Benefit costs in private industry.

Private industry employer costs for paid leave averaged $2.32 per hour worked or 6.9 percent of total compensation, supplemental pay averaged $1.19 or 3.6 percent, insurance benefits averaged $2.68 or 8.0 percent, retirement and savings costs averaged $1.39 or 4.1 percent, and legally required benefits averaged $2.62 per hour worked or 7.8 percent. (See table A and table 5.)

Table A.  Relative importance of employer costs for employee compensation, September 2017

Compensation                         Civilian       Private      State and local

  component                             workers(1)     industry       government

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Wages and salaries                  68.3%          69.6%            62.6%

Benefits                                   31.7           30.4             37.4

   Paid leave                            7.0            6.9              7.5

   Supplemental pay                 3.1            3.6              1.0

   Insurance                             8.7            8.0             11.9

     Health                                8.3            7.5             11.6

   Retirement and savings         5.5            4.1             11.4

     Defined benefit                   3.5            1.9             10.6

     Defined contribution           2.0            2.2              0.8

   Legally required                   7.4            7.8              5.6

_____________________________________________________________________________ 1 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and

     workers in the public sector, except the federal government.

• Technical Note
• Table 1. Civilian workers, by major occupational and industry group
• Table 2. Civilian workers, by occupational and industry group
• Table 3. State and local government, by major occupational and industry group
• Table 4. State and local government, by occupational and industry group
• Table 5. Private industry, by major occupational group and bargaining unit status
• Table 6. Private industry, by major industry group
• Table 7. Private industry, by census region and division
• Table 8. Private industry, by establishment employment size
• Table 9. Private industry, goods-producing and service-providing industries, by occupational group
• Table 10. Private industry, by industry group
• Table 11. Private industry, by occupational group and full-time and part-time status
• Table 12. Private industry, by industry group and full-time and part-time status
• Table 13. Private industry, by major industry group and establishment employment size and bargaining unit status
• Table 14. Private industry, health care and social assistance workers, by industry and occupational group
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Source: BLS