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Private industry employer health benefits costs up 1.8 percent for year ending September 2020

November 30, 2020

Health benefits costs for private industry employers increased 1.8 percent for the 12 months ending in September 2020. Employer health benefits costs have increased by 2.3 percent or less in every 12-month period since March 2017. These data begin in 1982.

12-month percent change in private industry employer costs for employee benefits
Month Total benefits Health benefits

Mar 1982

6.9% 14.7%

Jun 1982

7.4 16.2

Sep 1982

7.9 18.1

Dec 1982

7.1 18.3

Mar 1983

9.2 23.5

Jun 1983

8.4 22.4

Sep 1983

7.6 21.3

Dec 1983

7.5 20.4

Mar 1984

7.3 17.6

Jun 1984

7.2 15.9

Sep 1984

6.6 13.1

Dec 1984

6.5 12.5

Mar 1985

5.5 8.5

Jun 1985

4.1 6.7

Sep 1985

4.4 6.5

Dec 1985

3.5 5.2

Mar 1986

3.2 3.9

Jun 1986

3.5 3.5

Sep 1986

3.2 3.6

Dec 1986

3.4 4.1

Mar 1987

2.7 4.7

Jun 1987

3.4 6.1

Sep 1987

3.1 5.5

Dec 1987

3.3 6.3

Mar 1988

5.9 10.5

Jun 1988

6.5 12.2

Sep 1988

6.9 13.9

Dec 1988

6.9 14.7

Mar 1989

5.5 13.6

Jun 1989

5.5 13.4

Sep 1989

5.8 13.7

Dec 1989

6.2 12.8

Mar 1990

7.1 12.2

Jun 1990

7.0 12.0

Sep 1990

6.7 11.5

Dec 1990

6.7 11.3

Mar 1991

5.7 11.5

Jun 1991

6.2 11.1

Sep 1991

6.5 10.9

Dec 1991

6.2 11.2

Mar 1992

6.3 10.3

Jun 1992

5.5 9.6

Sep 1992

5.2 9.2

Dec 1992

5.2 8.6

Mar 1993

5.6 8.1

Jun 1993

5.7 7.8

Sep 1993

5.3 7.2

Dec 1993

4.9 6.9

Mar 1994

4.5 5.7

Jun 1994

4.1 5.0

Sep 1994

4.1 4.3

Dec 1994

3.7 3.9

Mar 1995

2.8 1.6

Jun 1995

2.5 0.6

Sep 1995

2.0 -0.1

Dec 1995

2.2 0.1

Mar 1996

1.5 -0.3

Jun 1996

1.7 0.1

Sep 1996

1.8 0.7

Dec 1996

2.0 0.4

Mar 1997

2.1 0.2

Jun 1997

2.0 0.7

Sep 1997

2.1 0.8

Dec 1997

2.2 0.9

Mar 1998

2.2 2.2

Jun 1998

2.7 2.6

Sep 1998

2.5 2.2

Dec 1998

2.5 2.5

Mar 1999

2.3 3.7

Jun 1999

2.4 4.0

Sep 1999

2.9 5.0

Dec 1999

3.4 5.8

Mar 2000

5.4 7.6

Jun 2000

5.8 8.0

Sep 2000

6.0 8.5

Dec 2000

5.6 8.5

Mar 2001

5.1 8.1

Jun 2001

4.8 8.6

Sep 2001

4.9 8.7

Dec 2001

5.1 9.2

Mar 2002

4.7 10.5

Jun 2002

5.1 11.4

Sep 2002

4.9 11.2

Dec 2002

4.7 10.2

Mar 2003

6.1 9.8

Jun 2003

6.2 10.3

Sep 2003

6.5 10.1

Dec 2003

6.4 10.5

Mar 2004

7.0 9.3

Jun 2004

7.3 8.1

Sep 2004

6.8 7.3

Dec 2004

6.9 7.3

Mar 2005

5.8 7.5

Jun 2005

4.9 6.3

Sep 2005

4.8 6.7

Dec 2005

4.2 6.4

Mar 2006

3.0 4.8

Jun 2006

2.7 5.2

Sep 2006

2.8 4.9

Dec 2006

3.1 4.9

Mar 2007

2.2 4.9

Jun 2007

2.6 4.8

Sep 2007

2.4 4.8

Dec 2007

2.4 4.8

Mar 2008

3.2 4.6

Jun 2008

2.6 4.2

Sep 2008

2.4 3.9

Dec 2008

2.0 3.5

Mar 2009

1.6 4.6

Jun 2009

1.3 4.4

Sep 2009

1.1 4.6

Dec 2009

0.9 4.3

Mar 2010

2.0 4.5

Jun 2010

2.4 5.0

Sep 2010

2.8 4.8

Dec 2010

2.9 5.0

Mar 2011

3.0 3.4

Jun 2011

4.0 3.6

Sep 2011

3.3 3.4

Dec 2011

3.6 3.5

Mar 2012

2.8 3.0

Jun 2012

1.9 2.4

Sep 2012

2.2 2.3

Dec 2012

2.0 2.1

Mar 2013

2.0 3.0

Jun 2013

1.9 2.6

Sep 2013

2.0 2.7

Dec 2013

1.9 3.0

Mar 2014

1.8 2.4

Jun 2014

2.4 2.7

Sep 2014

2.3 2.6

Dec 2014

2.5 2.4

Mar 2015

2.6 2.5

Jun 2015

1.4 2.8

Sep 2015

1.4 3.0

Dec 2015

1.3 3.0

Mar 2016

1.2 3.3

Jun 2016

1.7 2.8

Sep 2016

1.8 2.7

Dec 2016

1.8 2.7

Mar 2017

1.9 1.3

Jun 2017

2.2 1.2

Sep 2017

2.4 1.1

Dec 2017

2.3 1.1

Mar 2018

2.5 1.5

Jun 2018

2.8 1.6

Sep 2018

2.5 1.9

Dec 2018

2.6 1.8

Mar 2019

2.4 1.9

Jun 2019

1.8 2.3

Sep 2019

2.0 2.0

Dec 2019

1.9 2.2

Mar 2020

1.6 1.5

Jun 2020

2.0 1.9

Sep 2020

2.0 1.8

These data are from the Employment Cost Trends program. To learn more, see “Employment Cost Index — September 2020.” We also have more charts on the Employment Cost Index. Historical data are available from our database tools. Private industry workers exclude employees of state and local government.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Private industry employer health benefits costs up 1.8 percent for year ending September 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/private-industry-employer-health-benefits-costs-up-1-8-percent-for-year-ending-september-2020.htm (visited December 13, 2024).

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