The average cost of labor in private industry in June was $30.11 per employee, down slightly from $31.93 in March, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Of that, nearly 70 percent was attributed to wages and salaries. Average cost of benefits per hour was just over $9, or 30 percent of the total cost of compensation, down from March's 31.2 percent. The BLS reported that the comparable cost among state and local government employees was $43.
Average retirement and savings benefits in June were $1.23 an hour, or 4.1 percent of the total cost of compensation for private industry employees. Defined benefits plans cost an average of 58 cents, or 1.9 percent of total compensation. Defined contribution plans cost employers an average of 65 cents an hour per employee. That was 2.2 percent of total compensation.
The BLS said retirement and savings costs "varied widely by major occupational group."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
