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Compensation costs in private industry averaged $38.61 per hour worked in March 2022

June 30, 2022

Employer costs for employee compensation for private industry workers averaged $38.61 per hour worked in March 2022. Wage and salary costs averaged $27.19 and accounted for 70.4 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $11.42 and accounted for 29.6 percent of employer costs.

Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation of private industry workers, by industry, March 2022
Industry Total compensation Wages and salaries Total benefits

All workers

$38.61 $27.19 $11.42

Utilities

73.33 45.05 28.28

Information

62.95 41.96 21.00

Financial activities

53.21 35.48 17.74

Professional and business services

47.08 33.50 13.59

Wholesale trade

44.11 31.41 12.70

Construction

42.88 29.83 13.05

Manufacturing

41.99 27.85 14.14

Transportation and warehousing

41.83 27.69 14.14

Education and health services

40.87 28.82 12.04

Other services

33.51 24.97 8.54

Retail trade

23.11 17.71 5.41

Leisure and hospitality

17.70 14.29 3.41

Total compensation costs in utilities averaged $73.33 per hour worked in March 2022. Wages and salary costs averaged $45.05 (61.4 percent of total compensation) and benefit costs averaged $28.28 (38.6 percent). Compensation costs averaged $17.70 per hour worked in leisure and hospitality, as wages and salary costs averaged $14.29 (80.8 percent) and benefits costs averaged $3.41 (19.2 percent).

Of the total benefit costs for utilities, paid leave accounted for $6.61, supplemental pay accounted for $2.50, insurance accounted for $6.93, retirement and savings accounted for $7.21, and legally required benefits accounted for $5.03.

Employer costs per hour worked for employee benefits of private industry workers, by industry, March 2022
Industry Total benefits Paid leave Supplemental pay Insurance Retirement and savings Legally required benefits

All workers

$11.42 $2.88 $1.37 $2.93 $1.33 $2.91

Utilities

28.28 6.61 2.50 6.93 7.21 5.03

Information

21.00 6.15 2.98 5.27 2.56 4.03

Financial activities

17.74 4.71 3.27 4.53 1.87 3.35

Manufacturing

14.14 3.17 2.08 4.04 1.73 3.12

Transportation and warehousing

14.14 3.05 1.31 4.11 2.26 3.42

Professional and business services

13.59 3.86 1.84 3.15 1.38 3.35

Construction

13.05 1.96 1.60 3.17 2.32 4.00

Wholesale trade

12.70 3.36 1.65 3.07 1.39 3.24

Education and health services

12.04 3.55 0.87 3.30 1.35 2.96

Other services

8.54 2.21 0.45 2.09 1.15 2.62

Retail trade

5.41 1.16 0.57 1.32 0.43 1.93

Leisure and hospitality

3.41 0.53 0.27 0.71 0.19 1.71

For private industry workers, paid leave averaged $2.88 per hour worked (25.2 percent of total benefits), supplemental pay averaged $1.37 (12.0 percent), insurance averaged $2.93 (25.7 percent), retirement and savings averaged $1.33 (11.6 percent), and legally required benefits averaged $2.91 (25.5 percent) in March 2022.

These data are from the Employment Cost Trends program, part of the National Compensation Survey, and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — March 2022." BLS also has more charts on employer costs for employee compensation.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Compensation costs in private industry averaged $38.61 per hour worked in March 2022 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/compensation-costs-in-private-industry-averaged-38-61-per-hour-worked-in-march-2022.htm (visited October 08, 2024).

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