2009 Employer Costs For Employee Compensation

Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $27.49 per hour worked in September 2009. State and local government employers spent an average of $39.83 per hour worked for total employee compensation in September 2009.

Health benefit employer costs were $4.43 per hour worked for state and local government and $2.01 in private industry.

Paid leave, including vacation, holiday, sick and personal leave, cost $3.05 per hour worked for state and local government and $1.86 in private industry.

Retirement and savings costs, which include both defined benefit and defined contribution plans, were $3.23 per hour worked for state and local government employers and 94 cents for private employers.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey's Employment Cost Trends program.