U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
May 10, 2000
In March 1999, employer costs for benefits for civilian workers averaged $5.58 per hour worked. Wages and salaries were $14.72 and accounted for 72.5 percent of compensation costs. Benefits accounted for the remaining 27.5 percent.
Legally required benefits, such as Social Security and unemployment insurance, averaged $1.65 per hour, 8.1 percent of total compensation. Such benefits were the largest non-wage compensation cost.
Paid leave, with an average cost of $1.34 per hour worked, was the next largest and accounted for 6.6 percent of total compensation. Following leave were insurance ($1.29 or 6.4 percent), retirement and savings benefits (76 cents or 3.7 percent), and supplemental pay (51 cents or 2.5 percent).
These data are a product of the Employment Cost Trends program. Get more information on compensation costs from Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-99, BLS Bulletin 2526.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor's Desk, Hourly benefits $5.58 in 1999 on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2000/may/wk2/art03.htm (visited May 24, 2013).
This edition of Spotlight on Statistics examines labor productivity trends from 2000 through 2010 for selected industries and sectors within the nonfarm business sector of the U.S. economy. Read more »
