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          EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION-DECEMBER 2002

     In December 2002, employer costs for employee compensation for
civilian workers in private industry and State and local government in the
United States averaged $23.66 per hour worked, the U.S. Department of
Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  Wages and salaries,
which averaged $17.06, accounted for 72.1 percent of these costs, while
benefits, which averaged $6.60, accounted for the remaining 27.9 percent.
(See table 1.)

     Legally required benefits averaged $1.86 per hour (7.9 percent of
total compensation), representing the largest non-wage employer cost.
Employer costs for insurance benefits averaged $1.69 (7.1 percent), paid
leave benefits averaged $1.62 (6.8 percent), and retirement and savings
benefits averaged 82 cents (3.5 percent) per hour worked.

Private Industry

     In December 2002, private industry employer compensation costs
averaged $22.14 per hour worked.  Wages and salaries averaged $16.08 per
hour (72.6 percent), while benefits averaged $6.07 (27.4 percent.)  (See
table 5.)

     Employer costs for paid leave averaged $1.47 per hour worked (6.6
percent), supplemental pay averaged 61 cents (2.8 percent), insurance
benefits averaged $1.46 (6.6 percent), retirement and savings averaged 64
cents (2.9 percent), and legally required benefits averaged $1.85 (8.4
percent) per hour worked.
     
Legally required benefit costs in private industry

     The average cost for legally required benefits was $1.85 per hour
worked in private industry (8.4 percent of total compensation) in December
2002.  Included in this amount were employer costs for Social Security,
Federal and State unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation.

     Employer costs for legally required benefits varied by industry,
occupation, bargaining status, region, and establishment size.  Costs for
legally required benefits were higher in goods-producing industries ($2.33
per hour or 9.0 percent of total compensation) than in service-producing
industries ($1.72 or 8.1 percent of total compensation).  (See table 5.)

     The average cost per hour worked for legally required benefits was
$1.17 for service occupations, $1.98 for white-collar occupations, and
$2.05 for blue-collar occupations.  Although the overall costs of legally
required benefits for white-collar and blue-collar workers were comparable,
the costs for components varied considerably.  The cost of workers'
compensation was 68 cents for blue-collar workers, compared with 25 cents
for white-collar workers.  Conversely, Social Security costs were $1.61 per
hour for white-collar workers, versus $1.22 for blue-collar workers.  The
proportion of total compensation represented by legally required benefits
was the highest among service workers, 10.4 percent, compared with 7.4
percent for white-collar occupations and 9.9 percent for blue-collar
occupations.  (See table 6.)

     Legally required benefits were higher for union workers, $2.55 per
hour, than for nonunion workers, $1.77.  As a proportion of total
compensation, legally required benefits accounted for 8.4 percent of total
compensation for both union and nonunion workers.  Costs ranged from $1.65
in the South to $2.05 in the West.  The proportion of total compensation
represented by legally required costs varied slightly among regions.  (See
table 7.)

     Legally required benefit costs increased in average dollar amount per
hour with establishment size:  $1.70 in establishments with fewer than 100
employees; $1.86 in establishments with 100-499 employees; and $2.25 in
establishments with 500 or more employees.  Conversely, legally required
costs decreased as a proportion of total compensation with establishment
size.  Legally required costs in establishments with fewer than 100
employees averaged 9.0 percent; in establishments with 100-499 employees,
8.3 percent; and in establishments with 500 workers or more, 7.4 percent of
total compensation.  (See table 8.)

Paid leave benefit costs in private industry

     Paid leave costs in goods-producing industries were $1.70 per hour
(6.6 percent of total compensation), compared with $1.41 (6.7 percent of
total compensation) for service-producing industries in December 2002.
(See table 5.)  Included in this amount were employer costs for vacations,
holidays, sick leave, and other leave, such as personal leave, jury duty
leave, military leave, and funeral leave.

     Among major occupational groups, employer costs for paid leave
benefits were highest for white-collar occupations, $2.00 per hour or 7.5
percent of total compensation.  Costs were lowest among service
occupations, 47 cents or 4.2 percent of total compensation.  In blue-collar
occupations, employer costs for paid leave averaged $1.16 or 5.6 percent of
compensation.  (See table 6.)

     Employer costs for paid leave benefits were significantly higher for
union workers, averaging $2.16 per hour (7.1 percent), than for nonunion
workers, averaging $1.39 (6.6 percent).  Among the four regions, costs for
paid leave benefits ranged from $1.25 per hour in the South to $1.86 in the
Northeast.  (See table 7.)

     Paid leave benefit costs increased, both in average dollar amount and
as a proportion of total compensation, with establishment size.
Establishments with fewer than 100 workers averaged $1.08 (5.7 percent);
those with 100-499 employees averaged $1.50 (6.7 percent); and those with
500 or more employees averaged $2.45 (8.1 percent).  (See table 8.)


                            Table of Contents:
                                     
Table 1.    Civilian workers, by major occupational group                5
Table 2.    Civilian workers, by occupational and industry group         6
Table 3.    State and local government, by selected characteristics      7
Table 4.    State and local government, by occupational and industry
            group                                                        8

Table 5.    Private industry, by major industry group                    9
Table 6.    Private industry, by major occupational group               10
Table 7.    Private industry, by region and bargaining status           11
Table 8.    Private industry, by establishment employment size          12

Table 9.    Private industry, by major occupational and industry group
            and full-time and part-time status                          13
Table 10.   Private industry, by occupational and industry group        14
Table 11.   Private industry, workers in goods-producing and service-
            producing industries, by occupational group                 15
Table 12.   Private industry, workers in manufacturing and
            nonmanufacturing industries, by occupational group          16

Table 13.   Private industry, by bargaining status and major industry and
            occupational group                                          17
Table 14.   Private industry, by establishment employment size and major
            industry and occupational group                             18
Table 15.   Private industry, workers in health services, by industry and
            occupational group                                          19
Table 16.   Private industry, workers in transportation equipment
            manufacturing and public utilities, by industry and
            occupational group                                          20

Explanatory notes                                                       21

Appendix table.  Employer costs per hour worked for components of compen-
sation and relative standard errors, by major industry and occupational
categories, December 2002                                               24



Table 1.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Civilian
workers, by major occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                                                  Civilian workers      White collar        Blue collar           Service      
                 Compensation                                                                                                  
                   component                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                               
                                                   Cost    Percent     Cost    Percent     Cost    Percent     Cost    Percent 
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
Total compensation.............................   $23.66    100.0     $28.48    100.0     $20.97    100.0     $13.49    100.0  
                                                                                                                               
  Wages and salaries...........................    17.06     72.1      20.86     73.2      14.44     68.9       9.82     72.8  
                                                                                                                               
  Total benefits...............................     6.60     27.9       7.62     26.8       6.53     31.1       3.67     27.2  
                                                                                                                               
    Paid leave.................................     1.62      6.8       2.11      7.4       1.23      5.9        .78      5.8  
      Vacation.................................      .75      3.2        .96      3.4        .62      3.0        .35      2.6  
      Holiday..................................      .55      2.3        .70      2.5        .44      2.1        .25      1.9  
      Sick.....................................      .24      1.0        .33      1.2        .13       .6        .13      1.0  
      Other....................................      .08       .3        .11       .4        .05       .2        .04       .3  
                                                                                                                               
    Supplemental pay...........................      .56      2.4        .58      2.0        .74      3.5        .27      2.0  
      Premium(1)...............................      .23      1.0        .12       .4        .51      2.4        .13      1.0  
      Shift differentials......................      .06       .3        .06       .2        .07       .3        .05       .4  
      Nonproduction bonuses....................      .28      1.2        .40      1.4        .16       .8        .08       .6  
                                                                                                                               
    Insurance..................................     1.69      7.1       1.91      6.7       1.75      8.3        .96      7.1  
      Life.....................................      .04       .2        .05       .2        .04       .2        .02       .1  
      Health...................................     1.58      6.7       1.77      6.2       1.65      7.9        .91      6.7  
      Short-term disability....................      .04       .2        .04       .1        .05       .2        .02       .1  
      Long-term disability.....................      .03       .1        .05       .2        .02       .1      (2)       (3)   
                                                                                                                               
    Retirement and savings.....................      .82      3.5       1.00      3.5        .74      3.5        .42      3.1  
      Defined benefit..........................      .43      1.8        .46      1.6        .44      2.1        .32      2.4  
      Defined contribution.....................      .39      1.6        .54      1.9        .30      1.4        .10       .7  
                                                                                                                               
    Legally required benefits..................     1.86      7.9       1.99      7.0       2.03      9.7       1.24      9.2  
      Social Security(4).......................     1.37      5.8       1.63      5.7       1.22      5.8        .81      6.0  
        OASDI..................................     1.09      4.6       1.29      4.5        .99      4.7        .65      4.8  
        Medicare...............................      .28      1.2        .34      1.2        .23      1.1        .16      1.2  
      Federal unemployment insurance...........      .03       .1        .03       .1        .03       .1        .03       .2  
      State unemployment insurance.............      .09       .4        .08       .3        .11       .5        .08       .6  
      Workers' compensation....................      .38      1.6        .25       .9        .67      3.2        .32      2.4  
                                                                                                                               
    Other benefits(5)..........................      .04       .2        .04       .1        .03       .1      (2)       (3)   

  1 Includes premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays).
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.
  4 The total employer's cost for Social Security is comprised of an OASDI portion and a Medicare portion.  OASDI is the
acronym for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
  5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 2.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Civilian workers,
by occupational and industry group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                             Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                   
                                                  Total     Wages                                                                  
                    Series                       compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                  sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                    Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                       savings                     
                                                                                                                                   
                                                
                                                                           Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
Civilian workers...............................   $23.66   $17.06    $6.60   $1.62   $0.56     $1.69     $0.82     $1.86     $0.04 
                                                                                                                                   
              Occupational group                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
  White-collar occupations.....................    28.48    20.86     7.62    2.11     .58      1.91      1.00      1.99       .04 
    Professional specialty and technical.......    38.51    28.38    10.12    2.87     .60      2.48      1.57      2.54       .06 
      Professional specialty...................    41.17    30.51    10.66    3.05     .57      2.60      1.73      2.64       .07 
        Nurses.................................    34.86    25.27     9.59    2.79    1.25      1.85      1.00      2.68       .02 
        Teachers...............................    43.32    32.84    10.48    2.27     .11      3.12      2.41      2.48       .09 
      Technical................................    29.42    21.13     8.29    2.25     .68      2.09      1.04      2.21       .03 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial..    42.56    30.59    11.97    3.71    1.36      2.46      1.57      2.79       .08 
    Administrative support, including clerical.    18.74    13.36     5.37    1.35     .33      1.70       .57      1.39       .03 
                                                                                                                                   
  Blue-collar occupations......................    20.97    14.44     6.53    1.23     .74      1.75       .74      2.03       .03 
                                                                                                                                   
  Service occupations..........................    13.49     9.82     3.67     .78     .27       .96       .42      1.24     (2)   
                                                                                                                                   
                Industry group                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                   
  Services.....................................    25.46    18.88     6.58    1.80     .34      1.71       .88      1.84       .02 
    Health services............................    25.47    18.45     7.02    2.19     .52      1.65       .74      1.91     (2)   
      Hospitals................................    27.98    19.59     8.39    2.44     .79      2.18       .89      2.09       .02 
    Educational services.......................    34.57    25.45     9.12    2.20     .13      2.87      1.84      2.02       .06 
      Elementary and secondary education.......    33.83    25.04     8.79    1.92     .11      3.11      1.70      1.86       .09 
      Higher education.........................    36.67    26.77     9.90    2.74     .15      2.60      2.15      2.26     (2)   
                                                
                                                                           Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
Civilian workers...............................   100.0      72.1    27.9     6.8      2.4      7.1       3.5       7.9       0.2  
                                                                                                                                   
              Occupational group                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
  White-collar occupations.....................   100.0      73.2    26.8     7.4      2.0      6.7       3.5       7.0        .1  
    Professional specialty and technical.......   100.0      73.7    26.3     7.5      1.6      6.4       4.1       6.6        .2  
      Professional specialty...................   100.0      74.1    25.9     7.4      1.4      6.3       4.2       6.4        .2  
        Nurses.................................   100.0      72.5    27.5     8.0      3.6      5.3       2.9       7.7        .1  
        Teachers...............................   100.0      75.8    24.2     5.2       .3      7.2       5.6       5.7        .2  
      Technical................................   100.0      71.8    28.2     7.6      2.3      7.1       3.5       7.5        .1  
    Executive, administrative, and managerial..   100.0      71.9    28.1     8.7      3.2      5.8       3.7       6.6        .2  
    Administrative support, including clerical.   100.0      71.3    28.7     7.2      1.8      9.1       3.0       7.4        .2  
                                                                                                                                   
  Blue-collar occupations......................   100.0      68.9    31.1     5.9      3.5      8.3       3.5       9.7        .1  
                                                                                                                                   
  Service occupations..........................   100.0      72.8    27.2     5.8      2.0      7.1       3.1       9.2      (3)   
                                                                                                                                   
                Industry group                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                   
  Services.....................................   100.0      74.2    25.8     7.1      1.3      6.7       3.5       7.2        .1  
    Health services............................   100.0      72.4    27.6     8.6      2.0      6.5       2.9       7.5      (3)   
      Hospitals................................   100.0      70.0    30.0     8.7      2.8      7.8       3.2       7.5        .1  
    Educational services.......................   100.0      73.6    26.4     6.4       .4      8.3       5.3       5.8        .2  
      Elementary and secondary education.......   100.0      74.0    26.0     5.7       .3      9.2       5.0       5.5        .3  
      Higher education.........................   100.0      73.0    27.0     7.5       .4      7.1       5.9       6.2      (3)   

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 3.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: State and local
government, by selected characteristics,(1) December 2002
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                     All workers           White collar      Service occupations    Service industries 
                 Compensation                                              occupations                                                 
                   component                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                       
                                                   Cost      Percent     Cost      Percent     Cost      Percent     Cost      Percent 
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
Total compensation.............................   $32.32      100.0     $35.92      100.0     $24.34      100.0     $33.87      100.0  
                                                                                                                                       
  Wages and salaries...........................    22.68       70.2      25.88       72.0      15.65       64.3      24.54       72.5  
                                                                                                                                       
  Total benefits...............................     9.63       29.8      10.04       28.0       8.69       35.7       9.33       27.5  
                                                                                                                                       
    Paid leave.................................     2.49        7.7       2.59        7.2       2.26        9.3       2.28        6.7  
      Vacation.................................      .86        2.7        .81        2.3        .97        4.0        .64        1.9  
      Holiday..................................      .82        2.5        .86        2.4        .72        3.0        .77        2.3  
      Sick.....................................      .62        1.9        .71        2.0        .41        1.7        .67        2.0  
      Other....................................      .20         .6        .22         .6        .15         .6        .20         .6  
                                                                                                                                       
    Supplemental pay...........................      .29         .9        .18         .5        .60        2.5        .20         .6  
      Premium(2)...............................      .13         .4        .05         .1        .30        1.2        .06         .2  
      Shift differentials......................      .06         .2        .04         .1        .13         .5        .05         .1  
      Nonproduction bonuses....................      .10         .3        .09         .3        .17         .7        .09         .3  
                                                                                                                                       
    Insurance..................................     3.02        9.3       3.18        8.9       2.54       10.4       3.03        8.9  
      Life.....................................      .06         .2        .06         .2        .04         .2        .05         .1  
      Health...................................     2.89        8.9       3.05        8.5       2.39        9.8       2.92        8.6  
      Short-term disability....................      .04         .1        .02         .1        .09         .4        .02         .1  
      Long-term disability.....................      .04         .1        .04         .1        .02         .1        .04         .1  
                                                                                                                                       
    Retirement and savings.....................     1.84        5.7       1.99        5.5       1.65        6.8       1.82        5.4  
      Defined benefit..........................     1.59        4.9       1.71        4.8       1.54        6.3       1.60        4.7  
      Defined contribution.....................      .25         .8        .28         .8        .11         .5        .23         .7  
                                                                                                                                       
    Legally required benefits..................     1.92        5.9       2.04        5.7       1.58        6.5       1.93        5.7  
      Social Security(3).......................     1.50        4.6       1.71        4.8        .98        4.0       1.62        4.8  
        OASDI..................................     1.16        3.6       1.32        3.7        .75        3.1       1.25        3.7  
        Medicare...............................      .34        1.1        .39        1.1        .23         .9        .36        1.1  
      Federal unemployment insurance...........     (4)        (5)        (4)        (5)        (4)        (5)        (4)        (5)   
      State unemployment insurance.............      .04         .1        .04         .1        .05         .2        .04         .1  
      Workers' compensation....................      .37        1.1        .29         .8        .55        2.3        .27         .8  
                                                                                                                                       
    Other benefits(6)..........................      .07         .2        .07         .2        .06         .2        .07         .2  

  1 This table presents data for the two major occupational groups in State and local governments: White-collar occupations, largely
professional occupations, including teachers; and service occupations, including police and firefighters; and one major industry group,
services.  The service industries, which include health and educational services, employ a large part of the State and local government
workforce.
  2 Includes premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays).
  3 The total employer's cost for Social Security is comprised of an OASDI portion and a Medicare portion.  OASDI is the acronym for
Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
  4 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  5 Less than .05 percent.
  6 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 4.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: State and local
government, by occupational and industry group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                             Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                   
                                                  Total     Wages                                                                  
                    Series                       compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                  sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                    Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                       savings                     
                                                                                                                                   
                                                
                                                                           Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
State and local government workers.............   $32.32   $22.68    $9.63   $2.49   $0.29     $3.02     $1.84     $1.92     $0.07 
                                                                                                                                   
              Occupational group                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
  White-collar occupations.....................    35.92    25.88    10.04    2.59     .18      3.18      1.99      2.04       .07 
    Professional specialty and technical.......    41.96    31.07    10.90    2.55     .19      3.35      2.39      2.32       .10 
      Professional specialty...................    43.32    32.21    11.11    2.56     .17      3.44      2.48      2.36       .10 
        Teachers...............................    45.83    34.53    11.30    2.40     .10      3.55      2.72      2.42       .12 
      Technical................................    27.48    18.81     8.67    2.44     .48      2.44      1.40      1.86       .05 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial..    40.55    28.22    12.33    4.09     .20      3.41      2.27      2.31       .04 
    Administrative support, including clerical.    20.85    13.80     7.05    1.87     .13      2.70      1.00      1.31       .04 
                                                                                                                                   
  Blue-collar occupations......................    25.50    16.57     8.93    2.36     .43      2.95      1.32      1.79       .08 
                                                                                                                                   
  Service occupations..........................    24.34    15.65     8.69    2.26     .60      2.54      1.65      1.58       .06 
                                                                                                                                   
                Industry group                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                   
  Services.....................................    33.87    24.54     9.33    2.28     .20      3.03      1.82      1.93       .07 
    Health services............................    26.94    18.04     8.90    2.68     .73      2.44      1.13      1.88       .04 
      Hospitals................................    27.76    18.66     9.10    2.77     .70      2.45      1.18      1.94       .04 
    Educational services.......................    35.31    25.91     9.40    2.21     .12      3.10      1.95      1.94       .07 
      Elementary and secondary education.......    34.49    25.48     9.01    1.94     .10      3.24      1.78      1.84       .10 
      Higher education.........................    37.77    27.48    10.30    2.84     .17      2.81      2.33      2.14     (2)   
  Public administration........................    29.57    19.44    10.14    2.90     .45      2.95      1.92      1.84       .08 
                                                
                                                                           Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
State and local government workers.............   100.0      70.2    29.8     7.7      0.9      9.3       5.7       5.9       0.2  
                                                                                                                                   
              Occupational group                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
  White-collar occupations.....................   100.0      72.0    28.0     7.2       .5      8.9       5.5       5.7        .2  
    Professional specialty and technical.......   100.0      74.0    26.0     6.1       .5      8.0       5.7       5.5        .2  
      Professional specialty...................   100.0      74.4    25.6     5.9       .4      7.9       5.7       5.4        .2  
        Teachers...............................   100.0      75.3    24.7     5.2       .2      7.7       5.9       5.3        .3  
      Technical................................   100.0      68.4    31.6     8.9      1.7      8.9       5.1       6.8        .2  
    Executive, administrative, and managerial..   100.0      69.6    30.4    10.1       .5      8.4       5.6       5.7        .1  
    Administrative support, including clerical.   100.0      66.2    33.8     9.0       .6     12.9       4.8       6.3        .2  
                                                                                                                                   
  Blue-collar occupations......................   100.0      65.0    35.0     9.3      1.7     11.6       5.2       7.0        .3  
                                                                                                                                   
  Service occupations..........................   100.0      64.3    35.7     9.3      2.5     10.4       6.8       6.5        .2  
                                                                                                                                   
                Industry group                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                   
  Services.....................................   100.0      72.5    27.5     6.7       .6      8.9       5.4       5.7        .2  
    Health services............................   100.0      67.0    33.0     9.9      2.7      9.1       4.2       7.0        .1  
      Hospitals................................   100.0      67.2    32.8    10.0      2.5      8.8       4.3       7.0        .1  
    Educational services.......................   100.0      73.4    26.6     6.3       .3      8.8       5.5       5.5        .2  
      Elementary and secondary education.......   100.0      73.9    26.1     5.6       .3      9.4       5.2       5.3        .3  
      Higher education.........................   100.0      72.8    27.3     7.5       .5      7.4       6.2       5.7      (3)   
  Public administration........................   100.0      65.7    34.3     9.8      1.5     10.0       6.5       6.2        .3  

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 5.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
workers, by major industry group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         
                                                   All workers          Goods            Service        Manufacturing    Nonmanufacturing
                 Compensation                                        producing(1)      producing(2)                                      
                   component                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         
                                                  Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         
Total compensation.............................  $22.14    100.0   $25.88    100.0   $21.11    100.0   $25.58    100.0   $21.53    100.0 
                                                                                                                                         
  Wages and salaries...........................   16.08     72.6    17.72     68.5    15.62     74.0    17.33     67.7    15.85     73.6 
                                                                                                                                         
  Total benefits...............................    6.07     27.4     8.17     31.6     5.49     26.0     8.24     32.2     5.68     26.4 
                                                                                                                                         
    Paid leave.................................    1.47      6.6     1.70      6.6     1.41      6.7     1.96      7.7     1.38      6.4 
      Vacation.................................     .74      3.3      .87      3.4      .70      3.3      .99      3.9      .69      3.2 
      Holiday..................................     .50      2.3      .61      2.4      .47      2.2      .71      2.8      .46      2.1 
      Sick.....................................     .17       .8      .13       .5      .18       .9      .15       .6      .18       .8 
      Other....................................     .06       .3      .08       .3      .06       .3      .11       .4      .05       .2 
                                                                                                                                         
    Supplemental pay...........................     .61      2.8     1.09      4.2      .48      2.3     1.15      4.5      .52      2.4 
      Premium(3)...............................     .24      1.1      .55      2.1      .16       .8      .58      2.3      .18       .8 
      Shift differentials......................     .06       .3      .08       .3      .05       .2      .11       .4      .05       .2 
      Nonproduction bonuses....................     .31      1.4      .46      1.8      .27      1.3      .46      1.8      .28      1.3 
                                                                                                                                         
    Insurance..................................    1.46      6.6     2.08      8.0     1.29      6.1     2.18      8.5     1.33      6.2 
      Life.....................................     .04       .2      .06       .2      .04       .2      .06       .2      .04       .2 
      Health...................................    1.35      6.1     1.91      7.4     1.19      5.6     1.99      7.8     1.23      5.7 
      Short-term disability....................     .04       .2      .07       .3      .03       .1      .08       .3      .03       .1 
      Long-term disability.....................     .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1      .04       .2      .03       .1 
                                                                                                                                         
    Retirement and savings.....................     .64      2.9      .91      3.5      .57      2.7      .77      3.0      .62      2.9 
      Defined benefit..........................     .22      1.0      .45      1.7      .16       .8      .32      1.3      .21      1.0 
      Defined contribution.....................     .42      1.9      .46      1.8      .41      1.9      .44      1.7      .41      1.9 
                                                                                                                                         
    Legally required benefits..................    1.85      8.4     2.33      9.0     1.72      8.1     2.10      8.2     1.81      8.4 
      Social Security(4).......................    1.34      6.1     1.51      5.8     1.30      6.2     1.49      5.8     1.32      6.1 
        OASDI..................................    1.08      4.9     1.22      4.7     1.04      4.9     1.20      4.7     1.06      4.9 
        Medicare...............................     .26      1.2      .29      1.1      .26      1.2      .29      1.1      .26      1.2 
      Federal unemployment insurance...........     .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1 
      State unemployment insurance.............     .10       .5      .12       .5      .09       .4      .11       .4      .09       .4 
      Workers' compensation....................     .38      1.7      .67      2.6      .30      1.4      .47      1.8      .37      1.7 
                                                                                                                                         
    Other benefits(5)..........................     .03       .1      .07       .3      .02       .1      .09       .4      .02       .1 

  1 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  2 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  3 Includes premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays).
  4 The total employer's cost for Social Security is comprised of an OASDI portion and a Medicare portion.  OASDI is the acronym for
Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
  5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 6.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private
industry workers, by major occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
                                                    All workers         White collar        Blue collar           Service      
                 Compensation                                                                                                  
                   component                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                               
                                                   Cost    Percent     Cost    Percent     Cost    Percent     Cost    Percent 
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                               
Total compensation.............................   $22.14    100.0     $26.77    100.0     $20.68    100.0     $11.25    100.0  
                                                                                                                               
  Wages and salaries...........................    16.08     72.6      19.70     73.6      14.30     69.1       8.62     76.6  
                                                                                                                               
  Total benefits...............................     6.07     27.4       7.07     26.4       6.38     30.9       2.64     23.5  
                                                                                                                               
    Paid leave.................................     1.47      6.6       2.00      7.5       1.16      5.6        .47      4.2  
      Vacation.................................      .74      3.3       1.00      3.7        .59      2.9        .22      2.0  
      Holiday..................................      .50      2.3        .67      2.5        .42      2.0        .15      1.3  
      Sick.....................................      .17       .8        .25       .9        .10       .5        .07       .6  
      Other....................................      .06       .3        .08       .3        .05       .2        .02       .2  
                                                                                                                               
    Supplemental pay...........................      .61      2.8        .67      2.5        .76      3.7        .20      1.8  
      Premium(1)...............................      .24      1.1        .13       .5        .52      2.5        .10       .9  
      Shift differentials......................      .06       .3        .06       .2        .07       .3        .04       .4  
      Nonproduction bonuses....................      .31      1.4        .48      1.8        .17       .8        .06       .5  
                                                                                                                               
    Insurance..................................     1.46      6.6       1.62      6.1       1.68      8.1        .63      5.6  
      Life.....................................      .04       .2        .05       .2        .04       .2      (2)       (3)   
      Health...................................     1.35      6.1       1.47      5.5       1.57      7.6        .60      5.3  
      Short-term disability....................      .04       .2        .05       .2        .05       .2      (2)       (3)   
      Long-term disability.....................      .03       .1        .05       .2        .02       .1      (2)       (3)   
                                                                                                                               
    Retirement and savings.....................      .64      2.9        .77      2.9        .71      3.4        .17      1.5  
      Defined benefit..........................      .22      1.0        .17       .6        .40      1.9        .07       .6  
      Defined contribution.....................      .42      1.9        .59      2.2        .30      1.5        .10       .9  
                                                                                                                               
    Legally required benefits..................     1.85      8.4       1.98      7.4       2.05      9.9       1.17     10.4  
      Social Security(4).......................     1.34      6.1       1.61      6.0       1.22      5.9        .78      6.9  
        OASDI..................................     1.08      4.9       1.28      4.8        .99      4.8        .63      5.6  
        Medicare...............................      .26      1.2        .32      1.2        .23      1.1        .15      1.3  
      Federal unemployment insurance...........      .03       .1        .03       .1        .03       .1        .04       .4  
      State unemployment insurance.............      .10       .5        .09       .3        .11       .5        .08       .7  
      Workers' compensation....................      .38      1.7        .25       .9        .68      3.3        .27      2.4  
                                                                                                                               
    Other benefits(5)..........................      .03       .1        .04       .1        .03       .1      (2)       (3)   

  1 Includes premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays).
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.
  4 The total employer's cost for Social Security is comprised of an OASDI portion and a Medicare portion.  OASDI is the
acronym for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
  5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 7.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry workers, by
region and bargaining status, December 2002
                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                       Region(1)                                         Bargaining status         
                                                                                                                                                   
             Compensation                                                                                                                          
               component                    Northeast           South            Midwest             West             Union            Nonunion    
                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                   
                                          Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent
                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                   
Total compensation.....................  $25.36    100.0   $19.77    100.0   $21.83    100.0   $23.20    100.0   $30.29    100.0   $21.16    100.0 
                                                                                                                                                   
  Wages and salaries...................   18.15     71.6    14.54     73.5    15.68     71.8    16.99     73.2    19.86     65.6    15.62     73.8 
                                                                                                                                                   
  Total benefits.......................    7.22     28.5     5.24     26.5     6.15     28.2     6.21     26.8    10.43     34.4     5.54     26.2 
                                                                                                                                                   
    Paid leave.........................    1.86      7.3     1.25      6.3     1.40      6.4     1.52      6.6     2.16      7.1     1.39      6.6 
      Vacation.........................     .93      3.7      .63      3.2      .70      3.2      .76      3.3     1.11      3.7      .69      3.3 
      Holiday..........................     .62      2.4      .42      2.1      .49      2.2      .52      2.2      .70      2.3      .48      2.3 
      Sick.............................     .22       .9      .15       .8      .14       .6      .19       .8      .25       .8      .16       .8 
      Other............................     .08       .3      .05       .3      .07       .3      .05       .2      .10       .3      .06       .3 
                                                                                                                                                   
    Supplemental pay...................     .75      3.0      .50      2.5      .72      3.3      .54      2.3     1.06      3.5      .56      2.6 
      Premium(2).......................     .22       .9      .22      1.1      .31      1.4      .24      1.0      .68      2.2      .19       .9 
      Shift differentials..............     .06       .2      .04       .2      .09       .4      .05       .2      .17       .6      .05       .2 
      Nonproduction bonuses............     .47      1.9      .24      1.2      .33      1.5      .25      1.1      .22       .7      .32      1.5 
                                                                                                                                                   
    Insurance..........................    1.70      6.7     1.29      6.5     1.54      7.1     1.41      6.1     2.91      9.6     1.28      6.0 
      Life.............................     .05       .2      .04       .2      .04       .2      .04       .2      .07       .2      .04       .2 
      Health...........................    1.57      6.2     1.18      6.0     1.42      6.5     1.32      5.7     2.71      8.9     1.18      5.6 
      Short-term disability............     .05       .2      .04       .2      .05       .2      .03       .1      .08       .3      .03       .1 
      Long-term disability.............     .03       .1      .03       .2      .04       .2      .03       .1      .05       .2      .03       .1 
                                                                                                                                                   
    Retirement and savings.............     .83      3.3      .51      2.6      .64      2.9      .67      2.9     1.67      5.5      .52      2.5 
      Defined benefit..................     .28      1.1      .16       .8      .28      1.3      .22       .9     1.18      3.9      .11       .5 
      Defined contribution.............     .55      2.2      .35      1.8      .37      1.7      .45      1.9      .49      1.6      .41      1.9 
                                                                                                                                                   
    Legally required benefits..........    2.04      8.0     1.65      8.3     1.80      8.2     2.05      8.8     2.55      8.4     1.77      8.4 
      Social Security(3)...............    1.50      5.9     1.22      6.2     1.32      6.0     1.42      6.1     1.68      5.5     1.30      6.1 
        OASDI..........................    1.19      4.7      .98      5.0     1.06      4.9     1.14      4.9     1.36      4.5     1.04      4.9 
        Medicare.......................     .30      1.2      .24      1.2      .26      1.2      .28      1.2      .32      1.1      .26      1.2 
      Federal unemployment insurance...     .03       .1      .03       .2      .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1 
      State unemployment insurance.....     .14       .6      .07       .4      .09       .4      .11       .5      .13       .4      .09       .4 
      Workers' compensation............     .37      1.5      .33      1.7      .36      1.6      .49      2.1      .71      2.3      .34      1.6 
                                                                                                                                                   
    Other benefits(4)..................     .04       .2      .03       .2      .04       .2      .02       .1      .08       .3      .02       .1 

  1 The regional coverage is as follows: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; and West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
  2 Includes premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays).
  3 The total employer's cost for Social Security is comprised of an OASDI portion and a Medicare portion.  OASDI is the acronym for Old-Age,
Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
  4 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 8.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
workers, by establishment employment size, December 2002
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         
                                                   All workers       1-99 workers     100 workers or   100-499 workers    500 workers or 
                 Compensation                                                              more                                more      
                   component                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                         
                                                  Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent   Cost    Percent
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         
Total compensation.............................  $22.14    100.0   $18.87    100.0   $26.00    100.0   $22.40    100.0   $30.29    100.0 
                                                                                                                                         
  Wages and salaries...........................   16.08     72.6    14.12     74.8    18.38     70.7    16.07     71.7    21.14     69.8 
                                                                                                                                         
  Total benefits...............................    6.07     27.4     4.75     25.2     7.62     29.3     6.34     28.3     9.15     30.2 
                                                                                                                                         
    Paid leave.................................    1.47      6.6     1.08      5.7     1.93      7.4     1.50      6.7     2.45      8.1 
      Vacation.................................     .74      3.3      .54      2.9      .97      3.7      .75      3.3     1.23      4.1 
      Holiday..................................     .50      2.3      .37      2.0      .65      2.5      .52      2.3      .81      2.7 
      Sick.....................................     .17       .8      .13       .7      .22       .8      .17       .8      .29      1.0 
      Other....................................     .06       .3      .04       .2      .09       .3      .07       .3      .12       .4 
                                                                                                                                         
    Supplemental pay...........................     .61      2.8      .46      2.4      .79      3.0      .67      3.0      .93      3.1 
      Premium(1)...............................     .24      1.1      .19      1.0      .31      1.2      .27      1.2      .35      1.2 
      Shift differentials......................     .06       .3     (2)      (3)       .11       .4      .07       .3      .17       .6 
      Nonproduction bonuses....................     .31      1.4      .26      1.4      .37      1.4      .33      1.5      .41      1.4 
                                                                                                                                         
    Insurance..................................    1.46      6.6     1.08      5.7     1.91      7.3     1.62      7.2     2.25      7.4 
      Life.....................................     .04       .2      .03       .2      .06       .2      .04       .2      .07       .2 
      Health...................................    1.35      6.1     1.01      5.4     1.74      6.7     1.49      6.7     2.04      6.7 
      Short-term disability....................     .04       .2      .02       .1      .06       .2      .05       .2      .07       .2 
      Long-term disability.....................     .03       .1      .02       .1      .05       .2      .04       .2      .06       .2 
                                                                                                                                         
    Retirement and savings.....................     .64      2.9      .43      2.3      .90      3.5      .65      2.9     1.19      3.9 
      Defined benefit..........................     .22      1.0      .12       .6      .35      1.3      .24      1.1      .47      1.6 
      Defined contribution.....................     .42      1.9      .31      1.6      .55      2.1      .41      1.8      .72      2.4 
                                                                                                                                         
    Legally required benefits..................    1.85      8.4     1.70      9.0     2.04      7.8     1.86      8.3     2.25      7.4 
      Social Security(4).......................    1.34      6.1     1.17      6.2     1.55      6.0     1.35      6.0     1.78      5.9 
        OASDI..................................    1.08      4.9      .94      5.0     1.24      4.8     1.09      4.9     1.43      4.7 
        Medicare...............................     .26      1.2      .23      1.2      .30      1.2      .27      1.2      .35      1.2 
      Federal unemployment insurance...........     .03       .1      .03       .2      .03       .1      .03       .1      .03       .1 
      State unemployment insurance.............     .10       .5      .09       .5      .10       .4      .11       .5      .09       .3 
      Workers' compensation....................     .38      1.7      .40      2.1      .36      1.4      .37      1.7      .35      1.2 
                                                                                                                                         
    Other benefits(5)..........................     .03       .1     (2)      (3)       .05       .2      .03       .1      .08       .3 

  1 Includes premium pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays).
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.
  4 The total employer's cost for Social Security is comprised of an OASDI portion and a Medicare portion.  OASDI is the acronym for
Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.
  5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 9.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
workers, by major occupational and industry group, and full-time and part-time status, December 2002
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                  Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                        
                                                       Total     Wages                                                                  
                       Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                       sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                         Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                            savings                     
                                                                                                                                        
                                                     
                                                                                Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All full-time workers in private industry...........   $25.14   $17.96    $7.18   $1.80   $0.74     $1.78     $0.79     $2.03     $0.04 
  White-collar occupations..........................    30.00    21.79     8.22    2.39     .78      1.93       .92      2.14       .05 
    Sales...........................................    22.04    16.81     5.23    1.24     .50      1.33       .42      1.72       .02 
    Administrative support, including clerical......    19.56    13.92     5.64    1.43     .42      1.73       .56      1.46       .03 
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    21.87    15.01     6.86    1.27     .83      1.82       .77      2.13       .04 
  Service occupations...............................    13.54     9.89     3.65     .75     .29      1.02       .28      1.30     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................    26.23    17.92     8.32    1.73    1.12      2.12       .92      2.35       .07 
    Construction....................................    26.14    18.38     7.76     .93     .97      1.71      1.26      2.88     (2)   
    Manufacturing...................................    25.98    17.56     8.41    2.00    1.18      2.23       .78      2.12       .09 
  Service-producing industries(4)...................    24.72    17.97     6.75    1.82     .60      1.65       .74      1.91       .03 
    Transportation and public utilities.............    32.18    22.08    10.10    2.48    1.11      2.58      1.31      2.56       .05 
    Wholesale trade.................................    25.34    18.05     7.29    1.67     .84      1.96       .72      2.06       .05 
    Retail trade....................................    15.60    12.03     3.57     .78     .24       .91       .23      1.40     (2)   
    Finance, insurance, and real estate.............    30.75    21.56     9.19    2.36    1.31      2.15      1.20      2.07       .10 
    Services........................................    25.39    18.70     6.69    2.02     .42      1.58       .73      1.93     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
All part-time workers in private industry...........    12.30     9.90     2.40     .39     .19       .41       .16      1.26     (2)   
  White-collar occupations..........................    15.12    12.19     2.93     .57     .25       .49       .21      1.39     (2)   
    Sales...........................................     9.33     7.71     1.62     .23     .10       .21       .10       .99     (2)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......    13.45    10.72     2.74     .53     .18       .63       .20      1.19     (2)   
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    11.96     9.10     2.86     .35     .21       .64       .26      1.41     (2)   
  Service occupations...............................     8.71     7.20     1.50     .16     .09       .19       .04      1.02     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................    13.78    10.85     2.93     .43     .14       .43       .30      1.63     (2)   
  Service-producing industries(4)...................    12.26     9.87     2.39     .38     .19       .41       .15      1.25     (2)   
    Retail trade....................................     8.64     7.12     1.52     .17     .09       .21       .08       .97     (2)   
    Service industries..............................    15.70    12.70     3.00     .57     .28       .50       .17      1.48     (2)   
                                                     
                                                                                Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All full-time workers in private industry...........   100.0      71.4    28.6     7.2      2.9      7.1       3.1       8.1       0.2  
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      72.6    27.4     8.0      2.6      6.4       3.1       7.1        .2  
    Sales...........................................   100.0      76.3    23.7     5.6      2.3      6.0       1.9       7.8        .1  
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      71.2    28.8     7.3      2.1      8.8       2.9       7.5        .2  
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      68.6    31.4     5.8      3.8      8.3       3.5       9.7        .2  
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      73.0    27.0     5.5      2.1      7.5       2.1       9.6      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................   100.0      68.3    31.7     6.6      4.3      8.1       3.5       9.0        .3  
    Construction....................................   100.0      70.3    29.7     3.6      3.7      6.5       4.8      11.0      (5)   
    Manufacturing...................................   100.0      67.6    32.4     7.7      4.5      8.6       3.0       8.2        .3  
  Service-producing industries(4)...................   100.0      72.7    27.3     7.4      2.4      6.7       3.0       7.7        .1  
    Transportation and public utilities.............   100.0      68.6    31.4     7.7      3.4      8.0       4.1       8.0        .2  
    Wholesale trade.................................   100.0      71.2    28.8     6.6      3.3      7.7       2.8       8.1        .2  
    Retail trade....................................   100.0      77.1    22.9     5.0      1.5      5.8       1.5       9.0      (5)   
    Finance, insurance, and real estate.............   100.0      70.1    29.9     7.7      4.3      7.0       3.9       6.7        .3  
    Services........................................   100.0      73.7    26.3     8.0      1.7      6.2       2.9       7.6      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
All part-time workers in private industry...........   100.0      80.5    19.5     3.2      1.5      3.3       1.3      10.2      (5)   
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      80.6    19.4     3.8      1.7      3.2       1.4       9.2      (5)   
    Sales...........................................   100.0      82.6    17.4     2.5      1.1      2.3       1.1      10.6      (5)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      79.7    20.4     3.9      1.3      4.7       1.5       8.8      (5)   
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      76.1    23.9     2.9      1.8      5.4       2.2      11.8      (5)   
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      82.7    17.2     1.8      1.0      2.2        .5      11.7      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................   100.0      78.7    21.3     3.1      1.0      3.1       2.2      11.8      (5)   
  Service-producing industries(4)...................   100.0      80.5    19.5     3.1      1.5      3.3       1.2      10.2      (5)   
    Retail trade....................................   100.0      82.4    17.6     2.0      1.0      2.4        .9      11.2      (5)   
    Service industries..............................   100.0      80.9    19.1     3.6      1.8      3.2       1.1       9.4      (5)   

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  5 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 10.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
workers, by occupational and industry group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                  Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                        
                                                       Total     Wages                                                                  
                       Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                       sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                         Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                            savings                     
                                                                                                                                        
                                                     
                                                                                Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers in private industry.....................   $22.14   $16.08    $6.07   $1.47   $0.61     $1.46     $0.64     $1.85     $0.03 
                                                                                                                                        
                 Occupational group                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                        
  White-collar occupations..........................    26.77    19.70     7.07    2.00     .67      1.62       .77      1.98       .04 
    Professional specialty and technical............    36.80    27.06     9.74    3.03     .79      2.05      1.17      2.65       .05 
      Professional specialty........................    39.79    29.42    10.38    3.37     .83      2.06      1.24      2.82       .06 
      Technical.....................................    29.70    21.46     8.24    2.22     .71      2.04       .98      2.25       .02 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......    42.99    31.10    11.89    3.63    1.61      2.25      1.42      2.90       .08 
    Sales...........................................    16.66    12.96     3.70     .81     .33       .86       .29      1.41     (2)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......    18.35    13.28     5.06    1.25     .37      1.51       .49      1.41       .02 
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    20.68    14.30     6.38    1.16     .76      1.68       .71      2.05       .03 
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........    26.65    18.49     8.15    1.58     .90      1.99      1.06      2.58       .04 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors...    18.86    12.62     6.24    1.23     .97      1.77       .51      1.72       .05 
    Transportation and material moving..............    20.28    14.01     6.27    1.02     .66      1.67       .74      2.15       .03 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................    14.86    10.58     4.29     .66     .44      1.20       .40      1.58     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................    11.25     8.62     2.64     .47     .20       .63       .17      1.17     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
                   Industry group                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................    25.88    17.72     8.17    1.70    1.09      2.08       .91      2.33       .07 
    Construction....................................    25.94    18.28     7.66     .91     .95      1.68      1.24      2.86     (2)   
    Manufacturing...................................    25.58    17.33     8.24    1.96    1.15      2.18       .77      2.10       .09 
      Durables......................................    26.84    18.10     8.74    2.09    1.24      2.31       .77      2.21       .12 
      Nondurables...................................    23.75    16.23     7.52    1.76    1.03      1.98       .76      1.95       .04 
  Service-producing industries(4)...................    21.11    15.62     5.49    1.41     .48      1.29       .57      1.72       .02 
    Transportation and public utilities.............    30.26    20.78     9.48    2.26    1.00      2.45      1.23      2.49       .04 
    Wholesale trade.................................    24.40    17.43     6.97    1.57     .81      1.85       .69      2.02       .04 
    Retail trade....................................    12.11     9.57     2.54     .47     .17       .56       .15      1.19     (2)   
    Finance, insurance, and real estate.............    28.82    20.33     8.49    2.16    1.19      1.98      1.10      1.98       .09 
    Services........................................    22.86    17.13     5.73    1.65     .39      1.30       .58      1.81     (2)   
                                                     
                                                                                Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers in private industry.....................   100.0      72.6    27.4     6.6      2.8      6.6       2.9       8.4       0.1  
                                                                                                                                        
                 Occupational group                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                        
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      73.6    26.4     7.5      2.5      6.1       2.9       7.4        .1  
    Professional specialty and technical............   100.0      73.5    26.5     8.2      2.1      5.6       3.2       7.2        .1  
      Professional specialty........................   100.0      73.9    26.1     8.5      2.1      5.2       3.1       7.1        .2  
      Technical.....................................   100.0      72.3    27.7     7.5      2.4      6.9       3.3       7.6        .1  
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......   100.0      72.3    27.7     8.4      3.7      5.2       3.3       6.7        .2  
    Sales...........................................   100.0      77.8    22.2     4.9      2.0      5.2       1.7       8.5      (5)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      72.4    27.6     6.8      2.0      8.2       2.7       7.7        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      69.1    30.9     5.6      3.7      8.1       3.4       9.9        .1  
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........   100.0      69.4    30.6     5.9      3.4      7.5       4.0       9.7        .2  
    Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors...   100.0      66.9    33.1     6.5      5.1      9.4       2.7       9.1        .3  
    Transportation and material moving..............   100.0      69.1    30.9     5.0      3.3      8.2       3.6      10.6        .1  
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................   100.0      71.2    28.9     4.4      3.0      8.1       2.7      10.6      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      76.6    23.5     4.2      1.8      5.6       1.5      10.4      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
                   Industry group                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................   100.0      68.5    31.6     6.6      4.2      8.0       3.5       9.0        .3  
    Construction....................................   100.0      70.5    29.5     3.5      3.7      6.5       4.8      11.0      (5)   
    Manufacturing...................................   100.0      67.7    32.2     7.7      4.5      8.5       3.0       8.2        .4  
      Durables......................................   100.0      67.4    32.6     7.8      4.6      8.6       2.9       8.2        .4  
      Nondurables...................................   100.0      68.3    31.7     7.4      4.3      8.3       3.2       8.2        .2  
  Service-producing industries(4)...................   100.0      74.0    26.0     6.7      2.3      6.1       2.7       8.1        .1  
    Transportation and public utilities.............   100.0      68.7    31.3     7.5      3.3      8.1       4.1       8.2        .1  
    Wholesale trade.................................   100.0      71.4    28.6     6.4      3.3      7.6       2.8       8.3        .2  
    Retail trade....................................   100.0      79.0    21.0     3.9      1.4      4.6       1.2       9.8      (5)   
    Finance, insurance, and real estate.............   100.0      70.5    29.5     7.5      4.1      6.9       3.8       6.9        .3  
    Services........................................   100.0      74.9    25.1     7.2      1.7      5.7       2.5       7.9      (5)   

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  5 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 11.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
goods-producing and service-producing workers, by occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                  Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                        
                                                       Total     Wages                                                                  
                       Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                       sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                         Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                            savings                     
                                                                                                                                        
                                                     
                                                                                Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, goods-producing industries(2)..........   $25.88   $17.72    $8.17   $1.70   $1.09     $2.08     $0.91     $2.33     $0.07 
  White-collar occupations..........................    34.75    24.35    10.40    2.87    1.37      2.46      1.07      2.51       .12 
    Professional specialty and technical............    38.75    27.00    11.75    3.58    1.03      2.89      1.29      2.77       .20 
      Professional specialty........................    44.19    31.03    13.17    4.24     .96      2.99      1.59      3.11       .29 
      Technical.....................................    30.12    20.60     9.52    2.52    1.15      2.73       .83      2.23       .06 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......    47.66    33.09    14.57    3.94    2.99      2.69      1.45      3.39       .10 
    Administrative support, including clerical......    21.42    14.89     6.54    1.58     .71      2.01       .58      1.63       .03 
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    22.76    15.39     7.37    1.28     .98      1.94       .86      2.28       .04 
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........    27.50    18.83     8.67    1.45     .98      2.14      1.22      2.82       .05 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors...    20.47    13.42     7.05    1.40    1.14      2.02       .59      1.84       .06 
    Transportation and material moving..............    24.58    16.23     8.35    1.27    1.14      2.23      1.03      2.62       .05 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................    16.44    11.55     4.89     .68     .59      1.28       .51      1.82     (3)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................    19.88    12.75     7.14    1.18    2.16      1.71       .43      1.61       .06 
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, service-producing industries(4)........    21.11    15.62     5.49    1.41     .48      1.29       .57      1.72       .02 
  White-collar occupations..........................    25.78    19.13     6.65    1.89     .58      1.51       .73      1.91       .03 
    Professional specialty and technical............    36.49    27.07     9.41    2.94     .76      1.92      1.14      2.63       .02 
      Professional specialty........................    39.18    29.20     9.99    3.25     .81      1.93      1.19      2.78       .03 
      Technical.....................................    29.60    21.65     7.95    2.16     .61      1.88      1.02      2.26     (3)   
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......    41.99    30.67    11.32    3.56    1.31      2.16      1.41      2.79       .08 
    Sales...........................................    16.13    12.54     3.59     .78     .33       .83       .26      1.38     (3)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......    17.95    13.08     4.87    1.21     .33      1.45       .48      1.38       .02 
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    18.48    13.15     5.33    1.03     .52      1.39       .55      1.81       .02 
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........    25.38    18.00     7.38    1.76     .78      1.76       .83      2.23       .02 
    Transportation and material moving..............    19.13    13.41     5.72     .95     .53      1.52       .66      2.02       .03 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................    13.95    10.01     3.94     .64     .35      1.16       .34      1.44     (3)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................    11.13     8.56     2.57     .46     .17       .61       .16      1.16     (3)   
                                                     
                                                                                Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, goods-producing industries(2)..........   100.0      68.5    31.6     6.6      4.2      8.0       3.5       9.0       0.3  
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      70.1    29.9     8.3      3.9      7.1       3.1       7.2        .3  
    Professional specialty and technical............   100.0      69.7    30.3     9.2      2.7      7.5       3.3       7.1        .5  
      Professional specialty........................   100.0      70.2    29.8     9.6      2.2      6.8       3.6       7.0        .7  
      Technical.....................................   100.0      68.4    31.6     8.4      3.8      9.1       2.8       7.4        .2  
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......   100.0      69.4    30.6     8.3      6.3      5.6       3.0       7.1        .2  
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      69.5    30.5     7.4      3.3      9.4       2.7       7.6        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      67.6    32.4     5.6      4.3      8.5       3.8      10.0        .2  
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........   100.0      68.5    31.5     5.3      3.6      7.8       4.4      10.3        .2  
    Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors...   100.0      65.6    34.4     6.8      5.6      9.9       2.9       9.0        .3  
    Transportation and material moving..............   100.0      66.0    34.0     5.2      4.6      9.1       4.2      10.7        .2  
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................   100.0      70.3    29.7     4.1      3.6      7.8       3.1      11.1      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      64.1    35.9     5.9     10.9      8.6       2.2       8.1        .3  
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, service-producing industries(4)........   100.0      74.0    26.0     6.7      2.3      6.1       2.7       8.1        .1  
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      74.2    25.8     7.3      2.2      5.9       2.8       7.4        .1  
    Professional specialty and technical............   100.0      74.2    25.8     8.1      2.1      5.3       3.1       7.2        .1  
      Professional specialty........................   100.0      74.5    25.5     8.3      2.1      4.9       3.0       7.1        .1  
      Technical.....................................   100.0      73.1    26.9     7.3      2.1      6.4       3.4       7.6      (5)   
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......   100.0      73.0    27.0     8.5      3.1      5.1       3.4       6.6        .2  
    Sales...........................................   100.0      77.7    22.3     4.8      2.0      5.1       1.6       8.6      (5)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      72.9    27.1     6.7      1.8      8.1       2.7       7.7        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      71.2    28.8     5.6      2.8      7.5       3.0       9.8        .1  
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........   100.0      70.9    29.1     6.9      3.1      6.9       3.3       8.8        .1  
    Transportation and material moving..............   100.0      70.1    29.9     5.0      2.8      7.9       3.5      10.6        .2  
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................   100.0      71.8    28.2     4.6      2.5      8.3       2.4      10.3      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      76.9    23.1     4.1      1.5      5.5       1.4      10.4      (5)   

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  3 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  5 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 12.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
manufacturing and nonmanufacturing workers, by occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                  Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                        
                                                       Total     Wages                                                                  
                       Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                       sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                         Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                            savings                     
                                                                                                                                        
                                                     
                                                                                Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, manufacturing industries...............   $25.58   $17.33    $8.24   $1.96   $1.15     $2.18     $0.77     $2.10     $0.09 
  White-collar occupations..........................    35.16    24.62    10.54    3.08    1.23      2.55      1.06      2.47       .15 
    Professional specialty and technical............    39.20    27.27    11.93    3.71    1.01      2.89      1.31      2.79       .22 
      Professional specialty........................    43.66    30.69    12.97    4.24     .87      2.93      1.52      3.09       .31 
      Technical.....................................    31.09    21.06    10.04    2.73    1.25      2.82       .93      2.24       .07 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......    49.91    35.00    14.91    4.56    2.67      2.84      1.42      3.27       .15 
    Administrative support, including clerical......    21.70    14.93     6.77    1.68     .74      2.11       .56      1.64       .04 
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    21.53    14.27     7.26    1.48    1.09      2.02       .65      1.95       .06 
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........    26.86    17.91     8.95    2.01    1.28      2.33       .86      2.38       .09 
    Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors...    20.43    13.37     7.05    1.41    1.14      2.03       .60      1.82       .06 
    Transportation and material moving..............    22.25    14.88     7.36    1.41    1.03      1.95       .66      2.24       .08 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................    16.08    10.97     5.11     .90     .65      1.54       .44      1.56     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................    20.92    13.15     7.77    1.31    2.41      1.89       .49      1.61       .06 
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, nonmanufacturing industries............    21.53    15.85     5.68    1.38     .52      1.33       .62      1.81       .02 
  White-collar occupations..........................    25.97    19.23     6.73    1.89     .62      1.53       .74      1.93       .03 
    Professional specialty and technical............    36.47    27.03     9.43    2.93     .77      1.94      1.14      2.63       .02 
      Professional specialty........................    39.30    29.26    10.05    3.26     .82      1.95      1.21      2.78       .03 
      Technical.....................................    29.45    21.53     7.93    2.14     .62      1.90       .99      2.26     (2)   
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......    42.06    30.57    11.48    3.51    1.47      2.17      1.42      2.85       .08 
    Sales...........................................    16.26    12.65     3.61     .78     .33       .83       .27      1.39     (2)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......    18.01    13.12     4.89    1.21     .34      1.46       .48      1.39       .02 
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    20.23    14.31     5.92     .99     .58      1.50       .74      2.10       .02 
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........    26.57    18.71     7.86    1.42     .77      1.87      1.14      2.65       .02 
    Transportation and material moving..............    20.00    13.88     6.12     .96     .61      1.63       .75      2.14       .03 
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................    14.54    10.47     4.07     .59     .38      1.11       .39      1.58     (2)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................    11.13     8.56     2.57     .46     .17       .61       .16      1.16     (2)   
                                                     
                                                                                Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, manufacturing industries...............   100.0      67.7    32.2     7.7      4.5      8.5       3.0       8.2       0.4  
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      70.0    30.0     8.8      3.5      7.3       3.0       7.0        .4  
    Professional specialty and technical............   100.0      69.6    30.4     9.5      2.6      7.4       3.3       7.1        .6  
      Professional specialty........................   100.0      70.3    29.7     9.7      2.0      6.7       3.5       7.1        .7  
      Technical.....................................   100.0      67.7    32.3     8.8      4.0      9.1       3.0       7.2        .2  
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......   100.0      70.1    29.9     9.1      5.3      5.7       2.8       6.6        .3  
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      68.8    31.2     7.7      3.4      9.7       2.6       7.6        .2  
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      66.3    33.7     6.9      5.1      9.4       3.0       9.1        .3  
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........   100.0      66.7    33.3     7.5      4.8      8.7       3.2       8.9        .3  
    Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors...   100.0      65.4    34.5     6.9      5.6      9.9       2.9       8.9        .3  
    Transportation and material moving..............   100.0      66.9    33.1     6.3      4.6      8.8       3.0      10.1        .4  
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................   100.0      68.2    31.8     5.6      4.0      9.6       2.7       9.7      (3)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      62.9    37.1     6.3     11.5      9.0       2.3       7.7        .3  
                                                                                                                                        
All workers, nonmanufacturing industries............   100.0      73.6    26.4     6.4      2.4      6.2       2.9       8.4        .1  
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      74.0    25.9     7.3      2.4      5.9       2.8       7.4        .1  
    Professional specialty and technical............   100.0      74.1    25.9     8.0      2.1      5.3       3.1       7.2        .1  
      Professional specialty........................   100.0      74.5    25.6     8.3      2.1      5.0       3.1       7.1        .1  
      Technical.....................................   100.0      73.1    26.9     7.3      2.1      6.5       3.4       7.7      (3)   
    Executive, administrative, and managerial.......   100.0      72.7    27.3     8.3      3.5      5.2       3.4       6.8        .2  
    Sales...........................................   100.0      77.8    22.2     4.8      2.0      5.1       1.7       8.5      (3)   
    Administrative support, including clerical......   100.0      72.8    27.2     6.7      1.9      8.1       2.7       7.7        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      70.7    29.3     4.9      2.9      7.4       3.7      10.4        .1  
    Precision production, craft, and repair.........   100.0      70.4    29.6     5.3      2.9      7.0       4.3      10.0        .1  
    Transportation and material moving..............   100.0      69.4    30.6     4.8      3.1      8.2       3.8      10.7        .2  
    Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and                                                                                          
    laborers........................................   100.0      72.0    28.0     4.1      2.6      7.6       2.7      10.9      (3)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Service occupations...............................   100.0      76.9    23.1     4.1      1.5      5.5       1.4      10.4      (3)   

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 13.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
workers, by bargaining status, and major industry and occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                  Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                        
                                                       Total     Wages                                                                  
                       Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                       sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                         Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                            savings                     
                                                                                                                                        
                                                     
                                                                                Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All union workers, private industry.................   $30.29   $19.86   $10.43   $2.16   $1.06     $2.91     $1.67     $2.55     $0.08 
    Blue-collar occupations.........................    30.41    19.32    11.10    2.05    1.24      3.08      1.87      2.74       .11 
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(2).....................    32.09    20.20    11.90    2.06    1.62      3.22      2.03      2.84       .13 
  Service-producing industries(3)...................    29.00    19.62     9.38    2.23     .66      2.69      1.41      2.35       .04 
                                                                                                                                        
  Manufacturing.....................................    28.87    18.37    10.50    2.33    1.69      2.86      1.07      2.38       .17 
    Blue-collar occupations.........................    28.35    17.87    10.48    2.30    1.71      2.85      1.06      2.39       .17 
  Nonmanufacturing..................................    30.89    20.49    10.40    2.08     .80      2.93      1.92      2.63       .04 
                                                                                                                                        
All nonunion workers, private industry..............    21.16    15.62     5.54    1.39     .56      1.28       .52      1.77       .02 
    Blue-collar occupations.........................    17.88    12.86     5.02     .90     .62      1.27       .37      1.85     (4)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(2).....................    24.26    17.07     7.19    1.60     .96      1.78       .61      2.19       .05 
  Service-producing industries(3)...................    20.43    15.28     5.15    1.34     .46      1.17       .50      1.67       .02 
                                                                                                                                        
  Manufacturing.....................................    24.70    17.06     7.64    1.86    1.01      2.00       .69      2.03       .07 
    Blue-collar occupations.........................    18.96    12.91     6.04    1.18     .86      1.71       .49      1.79       .02 
  Nonmanufacturing..................................    20.61    15.40     5.21    1.31     .49      1.17       .49      1.73       .02 
                                                     
                                                                                Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All union workers, private industry.................   100.0      65.6    34.4     7.1      3.5      9.6       5.5       8.4       0.3  
    Blue-collar occupations.........................   100.0      63.5    36.5     6.7      4.1     10.1       6.1       9.0        .4  
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(2).....................   100.0      62.9    37.1     6.4      5.0     10.0       6.3       8.9        .4  
  Service-producing industries(3)...................   100.0      67.7    32.3     7.7      2.3      9.3       4.9       8.1        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  Manufacturing.....................................   100.0      63.6    36.4     8.1      5.9      9.9       3.7       8.2        .6  
    Blue-collar occupations.........................   100.0      63.0    37.0     8.1      6.0     10.1       3.7       8.4        .6  
  Nonmanufacturing..................................   100.0      66.3    33.7     6.7      2.6      9.5       6.2       8.5        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
All nonunion workers, private industry..............   100.0      73.8    26.2     6.6      2.6      6.0       2.5       8.4        .1  
    Blue-collar occupations.........................   100.0      71.9    28.1     5.0      3.5      7.1       2.1      10.3      (5)   
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(2).....................   100.0      70.4    29.6     6.6      4.0      7.3       2.5       9.0        .2  
  Service-producing industries(3)...................   100.0      74.8    25.2     6.6      2.3      5.7       2.4       8.2        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  Manufacturing.....................................   100.0      69.1    30.9     7.5      4.1      8.1       2.8       8.2        .3  
    Blue-collar occupations.........................   100.0      68.1    31.9     6.2      4.5      9.0       2.6       9.4        .1  
  Nonmanufacturing..................................   100.0      74.7    25.3     6.4      2.4      5.7       2.4       8.4        .1  

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  3 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  4 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  5 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 14.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
workers, by establishment employment size, and major industry and occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                  Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                        
          Industry and occupational group,             Total     Wages                                                                  
                and employment size                   compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                       sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                         Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                            savings                     
                                                                                                                                        
                                                     
                                                                                Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers in private industry.....................   $22.14   $16.08    $6.07   $1.47   $0.61     $1.46     $0.64     $1.85     $0.03 
  1-99 workers......................................    18.87    14.12     4.75    1.08     .46      1.08       .43      1.70     (2)   
  100 or more workers...............................    26.00    18.38     7.62    1.93     .79      1.91       .90      2.04       .05 
    100-499 workers.................................    22.40    16.07     6.34    1.50     .67      1.62       .65      1.86       .03 
    500 or more workers.............................    30.29    21.14     9.15    2.45     .93      2.25      1.19      2.25       .08 
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................    25.88    17.72     8.17    1.70    1.09      2.08       .91      2.33       .07 
    1-99 workers....................................    22.28    15.76     6.53    1.05     .82      1.60       .69      2.35     (2)   
    100 or more workers.............................    28.72    19.26     9.46    2.20    1.31      2.45      1.07      2.31       .11 
      100-499 workers...............................    24.54    16.61     7.93    1.59    1.18      2.17       .83      2.11       .05 
      500 or more workers...........................    33.64    22.38    11.26    2.93    1.45      2.79      1.36      2.55       .18 
                                                                                                                                        
  Service-producing industries(4)...................    21.11    15.62     5.49    1.41     .48      1.29       .57      1.72       .02 
    1-99 workers....................................    18.15    13.77     4.37    1.08     .38       .97       .37      1.56     (2)   
    100 or more workers.............................    25.02    18.07     6.96    1.84     .61      1.71       .83      1.94       .03 
      100-499 workers...............................    21.65    15.88     5.77    1.47     .49      1.42       .59      1.77       .02 
      500 or more workers...........................    29.08    20.70     8.38    2.27     .74      2.06      1.13      2.14       .04 
                                                                                                                                        
  White-collar occupations..........................    26.77    19.70     7.07    2.00     .67      1.62       .77      1.98       .04 
    1-99 workers....................................    22.70    17.15     5.55    1.53     .53      1.23       .51      1.73     (2)   
    100 or more workers.............................    30.98    22.34     8.64    2.48     .81      2.03      1.03      2.23       .06 
      100-499 workers...............................    26.76    19.58     7.18    1.99     .68      1.72       .75      2.01       .04 
      500 or more workers...........................    35.26    25.14    10.12    2.98     .95      2.33      1.32      2.45       .09 
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................    20.68    14.30     6.38    1.16     .76      1.68       .71      2.05       .03 
    1-99 workers....................................    18.91    13.54     5.37     .88     .58      1.34       .52      2.05     (2)   
    100 or more workers.............................    22.81    15.21     7.60    1.50     .97      2.09       .93      2.04       .06 
      100-499 workers...............................    20.29    13.85     6.44    1.16     .81      1.82       .71      1.91       .03 
      500 or more workers...........................    26.68    17.31     9.37    2.03    1.23      2.49      1.27      2.24       .11 
                                                     
                                                                                Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
All workers in private industry.....................   100.0      72.6    27.4     6.6      2.8      6.6       2.9       8.4       0.1  
  1-99 workers......................................   100.0      74.8    25.2     5.7      2.4      5.7       2.3       9.0      (5)   
  100 or more workers...............................   100.0      70.7    29.3     7.4      3.0      7.3       3.5       7.8        .2  
    100-499 workers.................................   100.0      71.7    28.3     6.7      3.0      7.2       2.9       8.3        .1  
    500 or more workers.............................   100.0      69.8    30.2     8.1      3.1      7.4       3.9       7.4        .3  
                                                                                                                                        
  Goods-producing industries(3).....................   100.0      68.5    31.6     6.6      4.2      8.0       3.5       9.0        .3  
    1-99 workers....................................   100.0      70.7    29.3     4.7      3.7      7.2       3.1      10.5      (5)   
    100 or more workers.............................   100.0      67.1    32.9     7.7      4.6      8.5       3.7       8.0        .4  
      100-499 workers...............................   100.0      67.7    32.3     6.5      4.8      8.8       3.4       8.6        .2  
      500 or more workers...........................   100.0      66.5    33.5     8.7      4.3      8.3       4.0       7.6        .5  
                                                                                                                                        
  Service-producing industries(4)...................   100.0      74.0    26.0     6.7      2.3      6.1       2.7       8.1        .1  
    1-99 workers....................................   100.0      75.9    24.1     6.0      2.1      5.3       2.0       8.6      (5)   
    100 or more workers.............................   100.0      72.2    27.8     7.4      2.4      6.8       3.3       7.8        .1  
      100-499 workers...............................   100.0      73.3    26.7     6.8      2.3      6.6       2.7       8.2        .1  
      500 or more workers...........................   100.0      71.2    28.8     7.8      2.5      7.1       3.9       7.4        .1  
                                                                                                                                        
  White-collar occupations..........................   100.0      73.6    26.4     7.5      2.5      6.1       2.9       7.4        .1  
    1-99 workers....................................   100.0      75.6    24.4     6.7      2.3      5.4       2.2       7.6      (5)   
    100 or more workers.............................   100.0      72.1    27.9     8.0      2.6      6.6       3.3       7.2        .2  
      100-499 workers...............................   100.0      73.2    26.8     7.4      2.5      6.4       2.8       7.5        .1  
      500 or more workers...........................   100.0      71.3    28.7     8.5      2.7      6.6       3.7       6.9        .3  
                                                                                                                                        
  Blue-collar occupations...........................   100.0      69.1    30.9     5.6      3.7      8.1       3.4       9.9        .1  
    1-99 workers....................................   100.0      71.6    28.4     4.7      3.1      7.1       2.7      10.8      (5)   
    100 or more workers.............................   100.0      66.7    33.3     6.6      4.3      9.2       4.1       8.9        .3  
      100-499 workers...............................   100.0      68.3    31.7     5.7      4.0      9.0       3.5       9.4        .1  
      500 or more workers...........................   100.0      64.9    35.1     7.6      4.6      9.3       4.8       8.4        .4  

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  5 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 15.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
health services workers, by industry and occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                 Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                       
                                                      Total     Wages                                                                  
                      Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                      sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                        Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                           savings                     
                                                                                                                                       
                                                    
                                                                               Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
Health services....................................   $25.31   $18.49    $6.82   $2.14   $0.50     $1.57     $0.70     $1.91     (2)   
    Professional specialty and technical...........    36.60    26.81     9.79    3.48     .81      1.87      1.00      2.61     (2)   
      Professional specialty.......................    43.75    32.02    11.73    4.53     .92      2.01      1.29      2.95       .02 
        Nurses.....................................    34.27    24.64     9.63    2.89    1.15      1.90       .99      2.68     (2)   
      Technical....................................    24.73    18.17     6.56    1.73     .63      1.62       .52      2.05     (2)   
    Administrative support, including clerical.....    16.42    11.96     4.46    1.05     .23      1.41       .48      1.29     (2)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Service occupations..............................    13.88    10.10     3.78     .82     .30      1.11       .30      1.25     (2)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Hospitals........................................    28.04    19.81     8.23    2.36     .81      2.11       .82      2.12       .02 
    Professional specialty and technical...........    34.44    24.56     9.88    2.95    1.16      2.18       .99      2.59     (2)   
      Professional specialty.......................    38.08    27.28    10.80    3.33    1.27      2.21      1.14      2.83     (2)   
        Nurses.....................................    36.96    26.31    10.65    3.23    1.38      2.15      1.08      2.79     (2)   
      Technical....................................    25.69    18.00     7.69    2.05     .89      2.10       .63      2.01       .02 
    Administrative support, including clerical.....    18.57    12.62     5.95    1.47     .37      2.12       .60      1.38     (2)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Service occupations..............................    16.20    10.93     5.27    1.14     .44      1.93       .41      1.34     (2)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Nursing homes....................................    16.51    12.26     4.25    1.11     .41       .97       .22      1.54     (2)   
    Professional specialty and technical...........    24.33    18.32     6.01    1.64     .72      1.06       .36      2.23     (2)   
      Professional specialty.......................    27.65    20.87     6.78    1.99     .74      1.10       .46      2.49     (2)   
      Technical....................................    21.55    16.17     5.37    1.35     .70      1.02       .28      2.01     (2)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Service occupations..............................    12.58     9.20     3.38     .77     .33       .90       .16      1.22     (2)   
                                                    
                                                                               Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
Health services....................................   100.0      73.1    26.9     8.5      2.0      6.2       2.8       7.5      (3)   
    Professional specialty and technical...........   100.0      73.3    26.7     9.5      2.2      5.1       2.7       7.1      (3)   
      Professional specialty.......................   100.0      73.2    26.8    10.4      2.1      4.6       2.9       6.7      (3)   
        Nurses.....................................   100.0      71.9    28.1     8.4      3.4      5.5       2.9       7.8      (3)   
      Technical....................................   100.0      73.5    26.5     7.0      2.5      6.6       2.1       8.3      (3)   
    Administrative support, including clerical.....   100.0      72.8    27.2     6.4      1.4      8.6       2.9       7.9      (3)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Service occupations..............................   100.0      72.8    27.2     5.9      2.2      8.0       2.2       9.0      (3)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Hospitals........................................   100.0      70.6    29.4     8.4      2.9      7.5       2.9       7.6        .1  
    Professional specialty and technical...........   100.0      71.3    28.7     8.6      3.4      6.3       2.9       7.5      (3)   
      Professional specialty.......................   100.0      71.6    28.4     8.7      3.3      5.8       3.0       7.4      (3)   
        Nurses.....................................   100.0      71.2    28.8     8.7      3.7      5.8       2.9       7.5      (3)   
      Technical....................................   100.0      70.1    29.9     8.0      3.5      8.2       2.5       7.8        .1  
    Administrative support, including clerical.....   100.0      68.0    32.0     7.9      2.0     11.4       3.2       7.4      (3)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Service occupations..............................   100.0      67.5    32.5     7.0      2.7     11.9       2.5       8.3      (3)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Nursing homes....................................   100.0      74.3    25.7     6.7      2.5      5.9       1.3       9.3      (3)   
    Professional specialty and technical...........   100.0      75.3    24.7     6.7      3.0      4.4       1.5       9.2      (3)   
      Professional specialty.......................   100.0      75.5    24.5     7.2      2.7      4.0       1.7       9.0      (3)   
      Technical....................................   100.0      75.0    24.9     6.3      3.2      4.7       1.3       9.3      (3)   
                                                                                                                                       
  Service occupations..............................   100.0      73.1    26.9     6.1      2.6      7.2       1.3       9.7      (3)   

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  2 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  3 Less than .05 percent.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



Table 16.   Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation: Private industry
transportation equipment manufacturing and public  utilities workers, by industry and occupational group, December 2002
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                 Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                       
                                                      Total     Wages                                                                  
                      Series                         compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                      sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                        Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(1) 
                                                                                                           savings                     
                                                                                                                                       
                                                    
                                                                               Cost per hour worked by year
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
Transportation equipment manufacturing (SIC 37)....   $35.57   $23.21   $12.36   $3.08   $2.11     $3.02     $1.02     $2.88     $0.26 
  White-collar occupations.........................    46.73    32.49    14.24    4.68    1.37      3.27      1.35      3.36       .22 
    Professional specialty and technical...........    47.80    32.90    14.90    5.11    1.09      3.55      1.34      3.56       .26 
    Executive, administrative, and managerial......    60.50    44.07    16.43    5.58    2.22      2.95      1.60      3.86       .22 
  Blue-collar occupations..........................    30.06    18.63    11.43    2.28    2.47      2.89       .86      2.64       .28 
  Service occupations..............................    30.28    18.43    11.85    2.65    2.04      3.36      1.02      2.47       .30 
                                                                                                                                       
  Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721)................    43.07    28.16    14.91    3.94    2.41      3.60      1.46      3.27       .23 
    White-collar occupations.......................    45.54    30.74    14.81    4.47    1.46      3.70      1.60      3.35       .23 
    Blue-collar occupations........................    39.15    24.05    15.09    3.07    3.99      3.42      1.22      3.17       .22 
                                                                                                                                       
Public utilities (SIC's 48, 49)....................    35.26    23.55    11.72    3.33    1.52      2.96      1.27      2.52       .12 
  White-collar occupations.........................    35.29    23.92    11.37    3.23    1.54      2.87      1.17      2.43       .14 
  Blue-collar occupations..........................    35.45    23.01    12.43    3.55    1.50      3.15      1.46      2.70       .08 
                                                                                                                                       
  Communications (SIC 48)..........................    34.12    23.22    10.90    3.23    1.38      2.77      1.04      2.37       .11 
    White-collar occupations.......................    33.84    23.31    10.53    3.05    1.36      2.65      1.03      2.32       .11 
    Blue-collar occupations........................    35.02    23.10    11.92    3.72    1.44      3.07      1.06      2.53       .10 
                                                                                                                                       
  Electric, gas, and sanitary services (SIC 49)....    37.43    24.16    13.26    3.51    1.79      3.32      1.70      2.81       .13 
    White-collar occupations.......................    39.25    25.57    13.67    3.70    2.03      3.44      1.54      2.75       .20 
    Blue-collar occupations........................    35.90    22.92    12.98    3.36    1.56      3.23      1.88      2.89       .05 
                                                    
                                                                               Percent of total compensation
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
Transportation equipment manufacturing (SIC 37)....   100.0      65.3    34.7     8.7      5.9      8.5       2.9       8.1       0.7  
  White-collar occupations.........................   100.0      69.5    30.5    10.0      2.9      7.0       2.9       7.2        .5  
    Professional specialty and technical...........   100.0      68.8    31.2    10.7      2.3      7.4       2.8       7.4        .5  
    Executive, administrative, and managerial......   100.0      72.8    27.2     9.2      3.7      4.9       2.6       6.4        .4  
  Blue-collar occupations..........................   100.0      62.0    38.0     7.6      8.2      9.6       2.9       8.8        .9  
  Service occupations..............................   100.0      60.9    39.1     8.8      6.7     11.1       3.4       8.2       1.0  
                                                                                                                                       
  Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721)................   100.0      65.4    34.6     9.1      5.6      8.4       3.4       7.6        .5  
    White-collar occupations.......................   100.0      67.5    32.5     9.8      3.2      8.1       3.5       7.4        .5  
    Blue-collar occupations........................   100.0      61.4    38.5     7.8     10.2      8.7       3.1       8.1        .6  
                                                                                                                                       
Public utilities (SIC's 48, 49)....................   100.0      66.8    33.2     9.4      4.3      8.4       3.6       7.1        .3  
  White-collar occupations.........................   100.0      67.8    32.2     9.2      4.4      8.1       3.3       6.9        .4  
  Blue-collar occupations..........................   100.0      64.9    35.1    10.0      4.2      8.9       4.1       7.6        .2  
                                                                                                                                       
  Communications (SIC 48)..........................   100.0      68.1    31.9     9.5      4.0      8.1       3.0       6.9        .3  
    White-collar occupations.......................   100.0      68.9    31.1     9.0      4.0      7.8       3.0       6.9        .3  
    Blue-collar occupations........................   100.0      66.0    34.0    10.6      4.1      8.8       3.0       7.2        .3  
                                                                                                                                       
  Electric, gas, and sanitary services (SIC 49)....   100.0      64.5    35.4     9.4      4.8      8.9       4.5       7.5        .3  
    White-collar occupations.......................   100.0      65.1    34.8     9.4      5.2      8.8       3.9       7.0        .5  
    Blue-collar occupations........................   100.0      63.8    36.2     9.4      4.3      9.0       5.2       8.1        .1  

  1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.



                             EXPLANATORY NOTES

     Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) measures the average
cost per employee hour worked that employers pay for wages and salaries and
benefits.

     Wages and salaries are defined as the hourly straight-time wage rate
or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided
by the corresponding hours.  Straight-time wage and salary rates are total
earnings before payroll deductions and include production bonuses,
incentive earnings, commission payments, and cost-of-living adjustments.
Not included in straight-time earnings are nonproduction bonuses such as
lump-sum payments provided in lieu of wage increases, shift differentials,
and premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends and holidays; these
payments are included in the benefits component.

     Benefits include:  Paid leave--vacations, holidays, sick leave, and
other leave; supplemental pay--premium pay for work in addition to the
regular work schedule (such as overtime, weekends, and holidays), shift
differentials, and nonproduction bonuses (such as referral bonuses and lump-
sum payments provided in lieu of wage increases); insurance benefits--life,
health, short-term disability, and long-term disability; retirement and
savings benefits--defined benefit and defined contribution plans; legally
required benefits--social security, medicare, Federal and State
unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation; and other benefits--
severance pay and supplemental unemployment plans.

     The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation includes data for the
civilian economy, which includes data from both private industry and State
and local government.  Excluded from private industry are the self-employed
and farm and private household workers.  Federal government workers are
excluded from the public sector.  The private industry series and the State
and local government series provide data for the two sectors separately.

     The publication schedule for the Employer Costs for Employee
Compensation has changed.  Publications are now issued on a quarterly
basis, with data collected for the pay period including the 12th day of the
survey months of March, June, September, and December.  Publications will
be issued approximately three months after the month of reference. The
tables included in the quarterly news release are unchanged from the annual
format and are now available on the Internet on a quarterly basis beginning
with June 2002 data.  Information may be obtained by visiting the Internet
site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm), calling (202) 691-6199, or by e-
mail request (ocltinfo@bls.gov).

     The cost levels in this release are based on a probability sample of
about 28,300 occupations within approximately 6,950 sample establishments
in private industry and about 3,700 occupations within approximately 800
sample establishments in State and local government.  Sample establishments
are classified by industry categories based on the 1987 Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) system, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management
and Budget.  Within a sample establishment, specific job categories are
selected to represent broader major occupational groups such as
professional specialty and technical occupations.

     Current employment weights are used to calculate cost levels.  The
December 2002 cost levels were calculated using the December 2002
employment counts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment
Statistics (CES) program, benchmarked to the 2001 universe of all private
nonfarm establishments.  In most instances, private industry employment
counts were total employment estimates for 2-digit major industry groups,
such as primary metal manufacturing or food stores, as defined by the SIC
system.  In a few cases, 3- and 4-digit industry employment counts were
used.  These include the 4-digit aircraft manufacturing industry (3721) and
the 3-digit health care and educational industries.  For more information
on SIC coding, see "BLS Establishment Estimates Revised to Incorporate
March 2001 Benchmarks" in the June 2002 issue of

Employment and Earnings.  For State and local governments, employment
counts ranged from those for 3-digit industries, such as education and
health care, to those for major industry divisions, such as public
administration.
     
     Employment data from these 2-, 3-, and 4-digit industries were
distributed to major occupational groups (such as executives,
administrators, and managers or machine operators, assemblers, and
inspectors) using the relative importance of the groups in the Employment
Cost Index (ECI) sample.  Because the ECI establishment sample is
completely replaced over a period of several years, major occupational
group employment counts from the ECI are affected by the age of the sample.
However, a few years' difference in the age of the occupational data within
industries is likely to have a small impact on the estimates.

     In contrast, the ECI, which measures the change in employer costs for
employee compensation, is calculated with fixed 1990 employment counts to
prevent employment shifts among occupations and industries from influencing
the changes.  Therefore, year-to-year changes in Employer Costs for
Employee Compensation will differ from those in the ECI.

     Historical data and related articles on the ECEC are included in the
bulletin, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, 1986-99 (Bulletin
2508).  An historical summary from 1986 through 2002 is also available on
the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) or upon request.
Information on how costs are calculated appears in "Measuring Trends in the
Structure and Levels of Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,"
Compensation and Working Conditions, Summer 1997.  An article on changes in
employer compensation costs, "Tracking Changes in Benefit Costs," appears
in Compensation and Working Conditions, Spring 1999.

Relative Standard Errors

     Because the ECEC is a sample survey, it is subject to sampling errors.
Sampling errors are differences that occur between the results computed
from a sample of observations and those computed from all observations in
the population.  The estimates derived from different samples selected
using the same sample design may differ from one another.  A measure of the
variation among these differing estimates is the standard error.  It can be
used to measure the precision with which an estimate from a particular
sample approximates the expected result of all possible samples.  The
chances are about 68 out of 100 that an estimate from the survey differs
from a complete population figure by less than the standard error.  The
chances are about 90 out of 100 that this difference would be less than 1.6
times the standard error.  All the statements of comparisons appearing in
this publication are significant at a 1.6 standard error level or better,
unless otherwise indicated.  This means that for differences cited, the
estimated difference is greater than 1.6 times the standard error of the
difference.

     The relative standard error (RSE) is shown with the cost estimates for
some series in the appendix table.  The RSE for all estimates will be
available shortly after the release is issued.  This information can be
obtained directly from the BLS Internet site
(http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm), by e-mail request
(ocltinfo@bls.gov), or by telephone (202) 691-6199.

     For a more detailed explanation of relative standard errors, see
"Measuring Trends in the Structure and Levels of Employer Costs for
Employee Compensation," Compensation and Working Conditions, Summer 1997.
For a detailed explanation of how to use standard error data to analyze
differences in year-to-year changes, see "Analyzing Year-to-Year Changes in
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation," Compensation and Working
Conditions, Spring 1998.  This article supplements an article from the
Summer 1997 issue of Compensation and Working Conditions, "Explaining the
Differential Growth Rates of the ECI and ECEC," which examined how differences
in the construction of these measures contribute to differing trends.

     Standard errors relate to differences that occur from sampling errors,
but not from nonsampling errors.  Nonsampling errors are not measured and
include survey nonresponse and data collection and processing errors.
Survey nonresponse occurs when sample members are unwilling or unable to
participate in the survey.  Data collection errors include inaccurate data
by respondents and definitional difficulties.  Processing errors include
errors in recording, coding, and entering data.  Although nonsampling
errors are not measured, BLS quality assurance programs contain procedures
for reducing such errors.  These procedures include data collection reinterviews,
observed interviews, computer data edits, and systematic review of reports on 
which data are recorded.  Extensive field economist training also is conducted to
maintain high data collection standards.

Comparing private and public sector data

     Aggregate compensation cost levels in State and local government
should not be directly compared with those in private industry.
Differences between these sectors stem from factors such as variation in
work activities and occupational structures.  Manufacturing and sales, for
example, make up a large part of private industry work activities, but are
rare in State and local government.  White-collar occupations (largely
professional occupations including teachers) account for two-thirds of the
State and local government workforce, compared with one-half of private
industry.

     A detailed examination of differences in compensation levels and
trends between private industry and State and local government may be found
in "Cost of Employee Compensation in Public and Private Sectors," Monthly
Labor Review, May 1993, and "Compensation Cost Trends in Private Industry
and State and Local Governments," Compensation and Working Conditions, Fall
1999.

Obtaining information

     Articles, bulletins, and other information may be obtained by calling
(202) 691-6199, sending an e-mail message to ocltinfo@bls.gov, or visiting
the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm).  Information in
this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon
request.  Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service Number:  1-800-
877-8339.



Appendix.  Employer costs per hour worked for components of compensation, and relative standard errors,(1) by major industry and
occupation categories, December 2002
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                 Benefit costs                         
                                                                                                                                       
                    Industry or                       Total     Wages                                                                  
                occupation category                  compen-     and                    Supple-            Retire-   Legally    Other  
                                                      sation  salaries           Paid   mental               ment    required   bene-  
                                                                        Total   leave     pay   Insurance    and     benefits  fits(2) 
                                                                                                           savings                     
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
Civilian workers                                                                                                                       
  Cost per hour worked by year.....................   $23.66   $17.06    $6.60   $1.62   $0.56     $1.69     $0.82     $1.86     $0.04 
  Relative error...................................     1.2      1.3      1.3     2.4     3.7       1.3       2.4       1.1      10.2  
                                                                                                                                       
  State and local government workers                                                                                                   
    Cost per hour worked by year...................   $32.32   $22.68    $9.63   $2.49    $.29     $3.02     $1.84     $1.92      $.07 
    Relative error.................................     1.3      1.3      1.6     2.0     6.0       1.9       3.4       2.0      24.3  
                                                                                                                                       
  Private industry workers                                                                                                             
    Cost per hour worked by year...................   $22.14   $16.08    $6.07   $1.47    $.61     $1.46      $.64     $1.85      $.03 
    Relative error.................................     1.5      1.5      1.7     3.2     4.0       1.7       3.1       1.3      10.4  
                                                                                                                                       
    Goods-producing industries(3)                                                                                                      
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $25.88   $17.72    $8.17   $1.70   $1.09     $2.08      $.91     $2.33      $.07 
      Relative error...............................     1.7      1.5      2.6     3.2     6.2       2.7       5.0       1.7      16.3  
                                                                                                                                       
    Service-producing industries(4)                                                                                                    
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $21.11   $15.62    $5.49   $1.41    $.48     $1.29      $.57     $1.72      $.02 
      Relative error...............................     1.8      1.8      1.9     3.7     4.9       2.1       3.7       1.4      11.9  
                                                                                                                                       
    Manufacturing                                                                                                                      
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $25.58   $17.33    $8.24   $1.96   $1.15     $2.18      $.77     $2.10      $.09 
      Relative error...............................     2.1      1.9      2.7     3.5     6.9       3.0       5.6       1.7      17.2  
                                                                                                                                       
    Nonmanufacturing                                                                                                                   
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $21.53   $15.85    $5.68   $1.38    $.52     $1.33      $.62     $1.81      $.02 
      Relative error...............................     1.7      1.7      1.9     3.6     5.0       2.0       3.6       1.4      12.3  
                                                                                                                                       
    White-collar workers                                                                                                               
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $26.77   $19.70    $7.07   $2.00    $.67     $1.62      $.77     $1.98      $.04 
      Relative error...............................     1.9      2.0      1.8     3.5     6.5       1.7       3.2       1.6      12.4  
                                                                                                                                       
    Blue-collar workers                                                                                                                
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $20.68   $14.30    $6.38   $1.16    $.76     $1.68      $.71     $2.05      $.03 
      Relative error...............................     1.5      1.3      2.3     3.0     2.7       2.8       4.8       1.6      17.7  
                                                                                                                                       
    Service workers                                                                                                                    
      Cost per hour worked by year.................   $11.25    $8.62    $2.64    $.47    $.20      $.63      $.17     $1.17     (5)   
      Relative error...............................     2.5      2.1      4.1     6.3    11.9       5.5      11.4       1.8      (6)   

  1 The relative error is the standard error expressed as a percent of the cost.  One can be 90-percent confident that the interval
around the cost estimate bounded by 1.6 times plus and 1.6 times minus the  standard error contains the "true" cost.
  2 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.
  3 Includes mining, construction, and manufacturing.
  4 Includes transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
service industries.
  5 Cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  6 Relative error is suppressed because cost per hour worked is $0.01 or less.
  
  Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.