U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
May 19, 2000
Wages in private industry rose 3.0 percent from $13.47 per hour in March 1998 to $13.87 in March 1999. Over the same period, the employers’ cost of benefits rose 2.2 percent to $5.13.
As a result, the share of total compensation accounted for by wages and salaries edged up to 73 percent. The year ending in March 1999 was the fifth in a row in which wages gained as a share of compensation.
The portions of compensation that recorded the largest declines as a share of compensation since 1994 were insurance (particularly health insurance) and workers’ compensation programs.
These data are a product of the BLS Employment Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-99," BLS Bulletin 2526.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor's Desk, Private sector wages rose faster than benefits last year on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2000/may/wk3/art05.htm (visited June 20, 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 »
