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Private-industry compensation averages $22.14 per hour in December

March 20, 2003

In December 2002, employer costs for employee compensation in private industry averaged $22.14 per hour worked.

Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation, private industry, December 2002
[Chart data—TXT]

Wages and salaries, which averaged $16.08, accounted for 72.6 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.07, accounted for the remainder.

Legally required benefits, such as Social Security and unemployment insurance, were $1.85 per hour on average, representing the largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.47 per hour, insurance benefits $1.46 per hour, and retirement and savings benefits 64 cents per hour.

These data are from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. Additional information is available from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, December 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-130.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Private-industry compensation averages $22.14 per hour in December at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2003/mar/wk3/art04.htm (visited September 15, 2024).

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