Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

Technical Contact: USDL: 03-297 

(202) 691-6199 ocltinfo@bls.gov 

Media Contact: FOR RELEASE: 10:00 A.M. EDT 

(202) 691-5902 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2003 

Internet address: 

http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm 

EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION—MARCH 2003 

 

In March 2003, employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers in private industry and 

State and local government in the United States averaged $23.93 per hour worked, the U.S. Department of 

Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $17.17, accounted for 

71.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $6.76, accounted for the remaining 28.2 percent. 

(See table 1.) Benefits, as a percentage of total compensation, have risen in the past three years from 27.4 

percent of total compensation in March 2000. 

 Legally required benefits averaged $1.89 per hour (7.9 percent of total compensation), representing the 

largest non-wage employer cost. Employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.63 (6.8 percent), insurance 

benefits averaged $1.77 (7.4 percent), and retirement and savings benefits averaged 85 cents (3.6 percent) per 

hour worked. 

Private Industry

In March 2003, private industry employer compensation costs averaged $22.37 per hour worked. Wages 

and salaries averaged $16.15 per hour (72.2 percent), while benefits averaged $6.22 (27.8 percent.) (See table 

5.) Benefits, as a percentage of total compensation, have risen in the past three years from 27.0 percent of total 

compensation in March 2000. 

 

Employer costs for paid leave averaged $1.47 per hour worked (6.6 percent), supplemental pay averaged 

64 cents (2.9 percent), insurance benefits averaged $1.52 (6.8 percent), retirement and savings averaged 67 cents 

(3.0 percent), and legally required benefits averaged $1.89 (8.4 percent) per hour worked. 

United States 

Department News of Labor 

NOTE: The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation will convert to the 2002 North American 

Industry Classification System and the 2002 Standard Occupational Classification System with the 

release of the March 2004 estimates. See page 21 for details. 
2 

Health benefit costs in private industry

Private industry health benefit costs averaged $1.41 per hour or 6.3 percent of total compensation in 

March 2003. In March 2000, employer costs for health benefit costs averaged $1.09, or 5.5 percent of total 

compensation. 

Employer health benefit costs varied by industry, occupation, bargaining status, region, and 

establishment size. In goods-producing industries, health benefit costs were higher, $1.98 per hour (7.5 percent 

of total compensation), than in service-producing industries, $1.25 per hour (5.9 percent of total compensation). 

(See table 5.) 

 Employer costs for health benefits ranged from $1.61 per hour and 7.7 percent of total compensation for 

blue-collar occupations to 65 cents and 5.7 percent of total compensation for service occupations. Among 

white-collar occupations, employer costs for health benefits averaged $1.56 (5.8 percent). (See table 6.) 

 Employer costs for health benefits were higher for union workers, averaging $2.80 per hour (9.1 

percent), than for nonunion workers, averaging $1.24 (5.8 percent). (See table 7.) 

 Among the four regions, costs for health benefits ranged from $1.24 per hour in the South to $1.63 in the 

Northeast. The proportion of total compensation represented by health benefits was 6.0 percent in the West, 6.2 

percent in the South, 6.3 percent in the Northeast, and 6.6 percent in the Midwest. (See table 7.) 

Health 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 $1.05 (5.5 percent), those with 

100-499 employees averaged $1.56 (6.9 percent), and those with 500 or more employees averaged $2.17 (7.0 

percent). (See table 8.) 
3 

Relative importance of employer costs for 

employee compensation, March 2003

Other benefits 0.1 0.2 0.1

Legally required 7.9 5.9 8.4

Defined contribution 1.6 0.7 1.9

Defined benefit 1.9 4.9 1.1

Retirement & savings 3.6 5.7 3.0

Health benefits 6.9 9.2 6.3

Insurance 7.4 9.6 6.8

Supplemental pay 2.5 0.9 2.9

Paid leave 6.8 7.7 6.6

Benefits 28.2 30.0 27.8

Wages and salaries 71.8% 70.0% 72.2%

Private 

industry

State and local 

government

Civilian 

workers

Compensation

component

Bureau of Labor Statistics, OCLT/SPCB 202.691.6199 ocltinfo@bls.gov http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm June 2003 

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2003

Employer costs per hour worked for health benefits and benefits excluding health, by various 

categories, March 2003

$0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9 $10 $11

pi 500+

pi 1-99 ee

pi non union

.

pi midw est

pi ne

pi svc occ

pi w c

pi svc prod

.

.

.

■ Health benefits Benefits excluding health

Civilian workers

State and local government

Private industry

Goods-producing

Service-producing

White-collar

Blue-collar

Service occupations

Northeast

South

Midwest

West

Union

Non-union

1-99 employees

100-499 employees

500+ employees
4 

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 compensation, and relative 

 standard errors, by major industry and occupational categories, March 2003 24 
5 

Table 1. Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and costs as a percent of total compensation:

Civilian workers, by major occupational group, March 2003

Compensation

component

Civilian workers White collar Blue collar Service

Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent

Total compensation .................................................. $23.93 100.0 $28.85 100.0 $21.21 100.0 $13.68 100.0

Wages and salaries .............................................. 17.17 71.8 21.03 72.9 14.52 68.5 9.91 72.4

Total benefits ........................................................ 6.76 28.2 7.82 27.1 6.69 31.5 3.78 27.6

Paid leave ......................................................... 1.63 6.8 2.11 7.3 1.25 5.9 .79 5.8

Vacation ........................................................ .76 3.2 .96 3.3 .62 2.9 .36 2.6

Holiday .......................................................... .55 2.3 .71 2.5 .44 2.1 .26 1.9

Sick ............................................................... .24 1.0 .34 1.2 .13 .6 .13 1.0

Other ............................................................. .08 .3 .11 .4 .05 .2 .04 .3

Supplemental pay ............................................. .59 2.5 .62 2.1 .75 3.5 .27 2.0

Premium1 ..................................................... .23 1.0 .12 .4 .52 2.5 .13 1.0

Shift differentials ........................................... .06 .3 .06 .2 .07 .3 .05 .4

Nonproduction bonuses ................................ .30 1.3 .44 1.5 .16 .8 .08 .6

Insurance .......................................................... 1.77 7.4 2.01 7.0 1.80 8.5 1.01 7.4

Life ................................................................ .04 .2 .06 .2 .04 .2 .02 .1

Health ........................................................... 1.65 6.9 1.86 6.4 1.70 8.0 .96 7.0

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 .................................... .85 3.6 1.03 3.6 .77 3.6 .44 3.2

Defined benefit ............................................. .46 1.9 .50 1.7 .47 2.2 .33 2.4

Defined contribution ...................................... .39 1.6 .53 1.8 .30 1.4 .11 .8

Legally required benefits .................................. 1.89 7.9 2.01 7.0 2.09 9.9 1.26 9.2

Social Security4 ............................................ 1.37 5.7 1.64 5.7 1.23 5.8 .82 6.0

OASDI ...................................................... 1.10 4.6 1.30 4.5 1.00 4.7 .66 4.8

Medicare ................................................... .28 1.2 .34 1.2 .24 1.1 .16 1.2

Federal unemployment insurance ................ .03 .1 .03 .1 .03 .1 .03 .2

State unemployment insurance .................... .10 .4 .09 .3 .12 .6 .09 .7

Workers’ compensation ................................ .39 1.6 .26 .9 .71 3.3 .32 2.3

Other benefits5 ................................................. .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

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) portion and a

Medicare portion. 5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
6 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

Civilian workers ........................................................ $23.93 $17.17 $6.76 $1.63 $0.59 $1.77 $0.85 $1.89 $0.03

Occupational group

White-collar occupations ...................................... 28.85 21.03 7.82 2.11 .62 2.01 1.03 2.01 .04

Professional specialty and technical ................. 38.73 28.41 10.33 2.85 .65 2.59 1.61 2.55 .06

Professional specialty ................................... 41.50 30.61 10.88 3.04 .63 2.71 1.77 2.66 .07

Nurses ...................................................... 35.48 25.58 9.90 2.84 1.31 1.99 1.04 2.71 .02

Teachers ................................................... 43.53 32.93 10.60 2.28 .11 3.19 2.42 2.50 .09

Technical ...................................................... 29.24 20.81 8.42 2.19 .74 2.19 1.08 2.19 .03

Executive, administrative, and managerial ....... 43.54 31.24 12.30 3.72 1.47 2.60 1.60 2.82 .08

Administrative support, including clerical .......... 18.98 13.45 5.52 1.36 .35 1.77 .59 1.42 .03

Blue-collar occupations ........................................ 21.21 14.52 6.69 1.25 .75 1.80 .77 2.09 .03

Service occupations ............................................. 13.68 9.91 3.78 .79 .27 1.01 .44 1.26 2 ( )

Industry group

Services ................................................................ 25.41 18.76 6.65 1.77 .35 1.78 .87 1.85 .02

Health services ................................................. 25.69 18.52 7.18 2.18 .54 1.75 .76 1.93 2 ( )

Hospitals ....................................................... 28.39 19.76 8.63 2.46 .83 2.31 .90 2.11 .02

Educational services ......................................... 34.78 25.54 9.24 2.21 .13 2.96 1.85 2.03 .06

Elementary and secondary education .......... 34.04 25.12 8.92 1.92 .12 3.20 1.71 1.88 .09

Higher education .......................................... 36.89 26.85 10.05 2.74 .16 2.73 2.14 2.27 2 ( )

Percent of total compensation

Civilian workers ........................................................ 100.0 71.8 28.2 6.8 2.5 7.4 3.6 7.9 0.1

Occupational group

White-collar occupations ...................................... 100.0 72.9 27.1 7.3 2.1 7.0 3.6 7.0 .1

Professional specialty and technical ................. 100.0 73.4 26.7 7.4 1.7 6.7 4.2 6.6 .2

Professional specialty ................................... 100.0 73.8 26.2 7.3 1.5 6.5 4.3 6.4 .2

Nurses ...................................................... 100.0 72.1 27.9 8.0 3.7 5.6 2.9 7.6 .1

Teachers ................................................... 100.0 75.6 24.4 5.2 .3 7.3 5.6 5.7 .2

Technical ...................................................... 100.0 71.2 28.8 7.5 2.5 7.5 3.7 7.5 .1

Executive, administrative, and managerial ....... 100.0 71.8 28.2 8.5 3.4 6.0 3.7 6.5 .2

Administrative support, including clerical .......... 100.0 70.9 29.1 7.2 1.8 9.3 3.1 7.5 .2

Blue-collar occupations ........................................ 100.0 68.5 31.5 5.9 3.5 8.5 3.6 9.9 .1

Service occupations ............................................. 100.0 72.4 27.6 5.8 2.0 7.4 3.2 9.2 3 ( )

Industry group

Services ................................................................ 100.0 73.8 26.2 7.0 1.4 7.0 3.4 7.3 .1

Health services ................................................. 100.0 72.1 27.9 8.5 2.1 6.8 3.0 7.5 3 ( )

Hospitals ....................................................... 100.0 69.6 30.4 8.7 2.9 8.1 3.2 7.4 .1

Educational services ......................................... 100.0 73.4 26.6 6.4 .4 8.5 5.3 5.8 .2

Elementary and secondary education .......... 100.0 73.8 26.2 5.6 .4 9.4 5.0 5.5 .3

Higher education .......................................... 100.0 72.8 27.2 7.4 .4 7.4 5.8 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.
7 

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 March 2003

Compensation

component

All workers White collar occupations Service occupations Service industries

Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent

Total compensation .................................................. $32.62 100.0 $36.20 100.0 $24.63 100.0 $34.13 100.0

Wages and salaries .............................................. 22.85 70.0 26.02 71.9 15.81 64.2 24.66 72.3

Total benefits ........................................................ 9.77 30.0 10.18 28.1 8.82 35.8 9.47 27.7

Paid leave ......................................................... 2.51 7.7 2.60 7.2 2.28 9.3 2.30 6.7

Vacation ........................................................ .87 2.7 .81 2.2 .98 4.0 .65 1.9

Holiday .......................................................... .82 2.5 .86 2.4 .73 3.0 .77 2.3

Sick ............................................................... .63 1.9 .71 2.0 .41 1.7 .67 2.0

Other ............................................................. .20 .6 .22 .6 .15 .6 .20 .6

Supplemental pay ............................................. .30 .9 .19 .5 .61 2.5 .21 .6

Premium2 ..................................................... .13 .4 .05 .1 .30 1.2 .06 .2

Shift differentials ........................................... .06 .2 .04 .1 .13 .5 .05 .1

Nonproduction bonuses ................................ .11 .3 .10 .3 .18 .7 .10 .3

Insurance .......................................................... 3.12 9.6 3.28 9.1 2.62 10.6 3.12 9.1

Life ................................................................ .06 .2 .06 .2 .04 .2 .06 .2

Health ........................................................... 2.99 9.2 3.15 8.7 2.48 10.1 3.00 8.8

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 .................................... 1.85 5.7 2.00 5.5 1.67 6.8 1.84 5.4

Defined benefit ............................................. 1.61 4.9 1.71 4.7 1.55 6.3 1.61 4.7

Defined contribution ...................................... .24 .7 .28 .8 .12 .5 .23 .7

Legally required benefits .................................. 1.93 5.9 2.05 5.7 1.58 6.4 1.94 5.7

Social Security3 ............................................ 1.52 4.7 1.73 4.8 .98 4.0 1.63 4.8

OASDI ...................................................... 1.17 3.6 1.33 3.7 .74 3.0 1.26 3.7

Medicare ................................................... .35 1.1 .39 1.1 .24 1.0 .37 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 ................................ .36 1.1 .28 .8 .55 2.2 .27 .8

Other benefits6 ................................................. .06 .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 Old-Age,

Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) portion and a Medicare portion. 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.
8 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

State and local government workers ........................ $32.62 $22.85 $9.77 $2.51 $0.30 $3.12 $1.85 $1.93 $0.06

Occupational group

White-collar occupations ...................................... 36.20 26.02 10.18 2.60 .19 3.28 2.00 2.05 .07

Professional specialty and technical ................. 42.24 31.21 11.03 2.56 .20 3.44 2.40 2.33 .10

Professional specialty ................................... 43.59 32.36 11.24 2.57 .18 3.52 2.50 2.37 .10

Teachers ................................................... 45.97 34.57 11.41 2.40 .12 3.62 2.73 2.43 .12

Technical ...................................................... 27.74 18.93 8.81 2.45 .49 2.54 1.40 1.89 .05

Executive, administrative, and managerial ....... 40.88 28.35 12.53 4.10 .20 3.61 2.26 2.32 .04

Administrative support, including clerical .......... 21.02 13.87 7.15 1.88 .14 2.77 1.01 1.32 .04

Blue-collar occupations ........................................ 25.73 16.68 9.05 2.38 .44 3.09 1.28 1.81 .04

Service occupations ............................................. 24.63 15.81 8.82 2.28 .61 2.62 1.67 1.58 .06

Industry group

Services ................................................................ 34.13 24.66 9.47 2.30 .21 3.12 1.84 1.94 .07

Health services ................................................. 27.20 18.20 9.00 2.71 .74 2.50 1.12 1.89 .04

Hospitals ....................................................... 28.00 18.81 9.18 2.80 .72 2.51 1.17 1.94 .05

Educational services ......................................... 35.52 25.99 9.53 2.22 .14 3.19 1.97 1.95 .07

Elementary and secondary education .......... 34.73 25.58 9.15 1.95 .12 3.34 1.79 1.85 .10

Higher education .......................................... 38.03 27.56 10.47 2.84 .17 2.93 2.36 2.16 2 ( )

Public administration ............................................ 29.95 19.66 10.29 2.92 .46 3.09 1.91 1.85 .06

Percent of total compensation

State and local government workers ........................ 100.0 70.0 30.0 7.7 0.9 9.6 5.7 5.9 0.2

Occupational group

White-collar occupations ...................................... 100.0 71.9 28.1 7.2 .5 9.1 5.5 5.7 .2

Professional specialty and technical ................. 100.0 73.9 26.1 6.1 .5 8.1 5.7 5.5 .2

Professional specialty ................................... 100.0 74.2 25.8 5.9 .4 8.1 5.7 5.4 .2

Teachers ................................................... 100.0 75.2 24.8 5.2 .3 7.9 5.9 5.3 .3

Technical ...................................................... 100.0 68.2 31.8 8.8 1.8 9.2 5.0 6.8 .2

Executive, administrative, and managerial ....... 100.0 69.3 30.7 10.0 .5 8.8 5.5 5.7 .1

Administrative support, including clerical .......... 100.0 66.0 34.0 8.9 .7 13.2 4.8 6.3 .2

Blue-collar occupations ........................................ 100.0 64.8 35.2 9.2 1.7 12.0 5.0 7.0 .2

Service occupations ............................................. 100.0 64.2 35.8 9.3 2.5 10.6 6.8 6.4 .2

Industry group

Services ................................................................ 100.0 72.3 27.7 6.7 .6 9.1 5.4 5.7 .2

Health services ................................................. 100.0 66.9 33.1 10.0 2.7 9.2 4.1 6.9 .1

Hospitals ....................................................... 100.0 67.2 32.8 10.0 2.6 9.0 4.2 6.9 .2

Educational services ......................................... 100.0 73.2 26.8 6.3 .4 9.0 5.5 5.5 .2

Elementary and secondary education .......... 100.0 73.7 26.3 5.6 .3 9.6 5.2 5.3 .3

Higher education .......................................... 100.0 72.5 27.5 7.5 .4 7.7 6.2 5.7 3 ( )

Public administration ............................................ 100.0 65.6 34.4 9.7 1.5 10.3 6.4 6.2 .2

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.
9 

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, March 2003

Compensation

component

All workers Goods producing1 Service producing2 Manufacturing Nonmanufacturing

Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent

Total compensation .................................................. $22.37 100.0 $26.25 100.0 $21.30 100.0 $26.02 100.0 $21.71 100.0

Wages and salaries .............................................. 16.15 72.2 17.78 67.7 15.70 73.7 17.43 67.0 15.92 73.3

Total benefits ........................................................ 6.22 27.8 8.47 32.3 5.60 26.3 8.59 33.0 5.79 26.7

Paid leave ......................................................... 1.47 6.6 1.71 6.5 1.40 6.6 1.97 7.6 1.38 6.4

Vacation ........................................................ .74 3.3 .88 3.4 .70 3.3 1.00 3.8 .69 3.2

Holiday .......................................................... .50 2.2 .62 2.4 .47 2.2 .73 2.8 .46 2.1

Sick ............................................................... .17 .8 .13 .5 .18 .8 .16 .6 .18 .8

Other ............................................................. .06 .3 .08 .3 .06 .3 .10 .4 .05 .2

Supplemental pay ............................................. .64 2.9 1.17 4.5 .50 2.3 1.23 4.7 .54 2.5

Premium3 ..................................................... .25 1.1 .57 2.2 .16 .8 .60 2.3 .19 .9

Shift differentials ........................................... .06 .3 .08 .3 .05 .2 .11 .4 .05 .2

Nonproduction bonuses ................................ .33 1.5 .51 1.9 .28 1.3 .51 2.0 .30 1.4

Insurance .......................................................... 1.52 6.8 2.15 8.2 1.35 6.3 2.27 8.7 1.39 6.4

Life ................................................................ .04 .2 .06 .2 .04 .2 .07 .3 .04 .2

Health ........................................................... 1.41 6.3 1.98 7.5 1.25 5.9 2.08 8.0 1.29 5.9

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 .................................... .67 3.0 .98 3.7 .58 2.7 .86 3.3 .63 2.9

Defined benefit ............................................. .25 1.1 .51 1.9 .18 .8 .41 1.6 .22 1.0

Defined contribution ...................................... .42 1.9 .47 1.8 .40 1.9 .45 1.7 .41 1.9

Legally required benefits .................................. 1.89 8.4 2.40 9.1 1.75 8.2 2.18 8.4 1.84 8.5

Social Security4 ............................................ 1.35 6.0 1.52 5.8 1.30 6.1 1.51 5.8 1.32 6.1

OASDI ...................................................... 1.08 4.8 1.23 4.7 1.04 4.9 1.21 4.7 1.06 4.9

Medicare ................................................... .27 1.2 .30 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 .................... .11 .5 .14 .5 .10 .5 .13 .5 .10 .5

Workers’ compensation ................................ .40 1.8 .71 2.7 .32 1.5 .51 2.0 .38 1.8

Other benefits5 ................................................. .03 .1 .06 .2 .02 .1 .08 .3 .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 Old-Age,

Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) portion and a Medicare portion. 5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
10 

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, March 2003

Compensation

component

All workers White collar Blue collar Service

Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent

Total compensation .................................................. $22.37 100.0 $27.10 100.0 $20.92 100.0 $11.41 100.0

Wages and salaries .............................................. 16.15 72.2 19.84 73.2 14.38 68.7 8.68 76.1

Total benefits ........................................................ 6.22 27.8 7.26 26.8 6.54 31.3 2.73 23.9

Paid leave ......................................................... 1.47 6.6 2.00 7.4 1.17 5.6 .48 4.2

Vacation ........................................................ .74 3.3 1.00 3.7 .60 2.9 .23 2.0

Holiday .......................................................... .50 2.2 .67 2.5 .42 2.0 .16 1.4

Sick ............................................................... .17 .8 .25 .9 .11 .5 .08 .7

Other ............................................................. .06 .3 .08 .3 .05 .2 .02 .2

Supplemental pay ............................................. .64 2.9 .73 2.7 .77 3.7 .20 1.8

Premium1 ..................................................... .25 1.1 .14 .5 .53 2.5 .10 .9

Shift differentials ........................................... .06 .3 .06 .2 .07 .3 .04 .4

Nonproduction bonuses ................................ .33 1.5 .53 2.0 .17 .8 .06 .5

Insurance .......................................................... 1.52 6.8 1.71 6.3 1.72 8.2 .68 6.0

Life ................................................................ .04 .2 .05 .2 .04 .2 2 ( ) 3 ( )

Health ........................................................... 1.41 6.3 1.56 5.8 1.61 7.7 .65 5.7

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 .................................... .67 3.0 .79 2.9 .74 3.5 .18 1.6

Defined benefit ............................................. .25 1.1 .21 .8 .43 2.1 .07 .6

Defined contribution ...................................... .42 1.9 .59 2.2 .31 1.5 .10 .9

Legally required benefits .................................. 1.89 8.4 2.00 7.4 2.11 10.1 1.19 10.4

Social Security4 ............................................ 1.35 6.0 1.62 6.0 1.23 5.9 .79 6.9

OASDI ...................................................... 1.08 4.8 1.29 4.8 1.00 4.8 .64 5.6

Medicare ................................................... .27 1.2 .33 1.2 .23 1.1 .15 1.3

Federal unemployment insurance ................ .03 .1 .03 .1 .03 .1 .04 .4

State unemployment insurance .................... .11 .5 .10 .4 .12 .6 .09 .8

Workers’ compensation ................................ .40 1.8 .25 .9 .72 3.4 .28 2.5

Other benefits5 ................................................. .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

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) portion and a

Medicare portion. 5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
11 

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, March 2003

Compensation

component

Region1 Bargaining status

Northeast South Midwest West Union Nonunion

Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent

Total compensation ...................................... $25.70 100.0 $19.95 100.0 $22.40 100.0 $23.07 100.0 $30.68 100.0 $21.36 100.0

Wages and salaries .................................. 18.30 71.2 14.60 73.2 16.03 71.6 16.74 72.6 19.95 65.0 15.69 73.5

Total benefits ............................................ 7.40 28.8 5.35 26.8 6.37 28.4 6.34 27.5 10.72 34.9 5.67 26.5

Paid leave ............................................. 1.87 7.3 1.27 6.4 1.42 6.3 1.48 6.4 2.19 7.1 1.38 6.5

Vacation ............................................ .94 3.7 .64 3.2 .71 3.2 .74 3.2 1.13 3.7 .69 3.2

Holiday .............................................. .63 2.5 .43 2.2 .50 2.2 .50 2.2 .71 2.3 .48 2.2

Sick ................................................... .22 .9 .15 .8 .15 .7 .19 .8 .25 .8 .16 .7

Other ................................................. .08 .3 .05 .3 .07 .3 .05 .2 .10 .3 .05 .2

Supplemental pay ................................. .81 3.2 .50 2.5 .77 3.4 .57 2.5 1.11 3.6 .59 2.8

Premium2 ......................................... .22 .9 .22 1.1 .32 1.4 .25 1.1 .70 2.3 .20 .9

Shift differentials ............................... .06 .2 .05 .3 .09 .4 .05 .2 .17 .6 .05 .2

Nonproduction bonuses .................... .52 2.0 .24 1.2 .36 1.6 .27 1.2 .24 .8 .34 1.6

Insurance .............................................. 1.77 6.9 1.35 6.8 1.61 7.2 1.48 6.4 2.99 9.7 1.34 6.3

Life .................................................... .05 .2 .04 .2 .04 .2 .04 .2 .06 .2 .04 .2

Health ............................................... 1.63 6.3 1.24 6.2 1.48 6.6 1.39 6.0 2.80 9.1 1.24 5.8

Short-term disability .......................... .05 .2 .04 .2 .05 .2 .02 .1 .08 .3 .03 .1

Long-term disability .......................... .03 .1 .03 .2 .04 .2 .03 .1 .05 .2 .03 .1

Retirement and savings ........................ .85 3.3 .53 2.7 .69 3.1 .69 3.0 1.73 5.6 .54 2.5

Defined benefit ................................. .29 1.1 .17 .9 .32 1.4 .25 1.1 1.24 4.0 .13 .6

Defined contribution .......................... .56 2.2 .35 1.8 .36 1.6 .44 1.9 .49 1.6 .41 1.9

Legally required benefits ...................... 2.07 8.1 1.67 8.4 1.84 8.2 2.11 9.1 2.61 8.5 1.80 8.4

Social Security3 ................................ 1.51 5.9 1.23 6.2 1.34 6.0 1.40 6.1 1.70 5.5 1.31 6.1

OASDI .......................................... 1.20 4.7 .99 5.0 1.07 4.8 1.12 4.9 1.37 4.5 1.05 4.9

Medicare ....................................... .31 1.2 .24 1.2 .27 1.2 .27 1.2 .33 1.1 .26 1.2

Federal unemployment insurance .... .03 .1 .03 .2 .03 .1 .03 .1 .03 .1 .03 .1

State unemployment insurance ........ .15 .6 .07 .4 .10 .4 .12 .5 .15 .5 .10 .5

Workers’ compensation .................... .38 1.5 .34 1.7 .37 1.7 .55 2.4 .74 2.4 .36 1.7

Other benefits4 ..................................... .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 Old-Age,

Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) portion and a Medicare portion. 4 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
12 

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, March 2003

Compensation

component

All workers 1-99 workers 100 workers or more 100-499 workers 500 workers or more

Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent Cost Percent

Total compensation .................................................. $22.37 100.0 $18.93 100.0 $26.42 100.0 $22.62 100.0 $30.94 100.0

Wages and salaries .............................................. 16.15 72.2 14.12 74.6 18.54 70.2 16.15 71.4 21.39 69.1

Total benefits ........................................................ 6.22 27.8 4.81 25.4 7.88 29.8 6.47 28.6 9.55 30.9

Paid leave ......................................................... 1.47 6.6 1.05 5.5 1.96 7.4 1.51 6.7 2.50 8.1

Vacation ........................................................ .74 3.3 .53 2.8 .98 3.7 .75 3.3 1.26 4.1

Holiday .......................................................... .50 2.2 .36 1.9 .66 2.5 .52 2.3 .83 2.7

Sick ............................................................... .17 .8 .13 .7 .23 .9 .17 .8 .30 1.0

Other ............................................................. .06 .3 .04 .2 .09 .3 .07 .3 .11 .4

Supplemental pay ............................................. .64 2.9 .48 2.5 .83 3.1 .68 3.0 1.01 3.3

Premium1 ..................................................... .25 1.1 .19 1.0 .32 1.2 .28 1.2 .37 1.2

Shift differentials ........................................... .06 .3 2 ( ) 3 ( ) .12 .5 .07 .3 .17 .5

Nonproduction bonuses ................................ .33 1.5 .28 1.5 .39 1.5 .33 1.5 .47 1.5

Insurance .......................................................... 1.52 6.8 1.12 5.9 2.00 7.6 1.69 7.5 2.37 7.7

Life ................................................................ .04 .2 .03 .2 .06 .2 .04 .2 .07 .2

Health ........................................................... 1.41 6.3 1.05 5.5 1.84 7.0 1.56 6.9 2.17 7.0

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 .................................... .67 3.0 .42 2.2 .95 3.6 .66 2.9 1.29 4.2

Defined benefit ............................................. .25 1.1 .13 .7 .40 1.5 .26 1.1 .56 1.8

Defined contribution ...................................... .42 1.9 .30 1.6 .55 2.1 .41 1.8 .73 2.4

Legally required benefits .................................. 1.89 8.4 1.73 9.1 2.08 7.9 1.90 8.4 2.30 7.4

Social Security4 ............................................ 1.35 6.0 1.16 6.1 1.57 5.9 1.36 6.0 1.81 5.9

OASDI ...................................................... 1.08 4.8 .93 4.9 1.26 4.8 1.09 4.8 1.45 4.7

Medicare ................................................... .27 1.2 .23 1.2 .31 1.2 .27 1.2 .36 1.2

Federal unemployment insurance ................ .03 .1 .03 .2 .03 .1 .03 .1 .03 .1

State unemployment insurance .................... .11 .5 .10 .5 .11 .4 .12 .5 .10 .3

Workers’ compensation ................................ .40 1.8 .42 2.2 .37 1.4 .39 1.7 .36 1.2

Other benefits5 ................................................. .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 Old-Age,

Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) portion and a Medicare portion. 5 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
13 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

All full-time workers in private industry ............................. $25.37 $18.02 $7.36 $1.80 $0.78 $1.85 $0.82 $2.07 $0.04

White-collar occupations .................................................... 30.35 21.92 8.44 2.39 .85 2.03 .95 2.16 .05

Sales ............................................................................... 22.51 17.09 5.42 1.27 .54 1.40 .44 1.76 .02

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 19.82 14.02 5.81 1.44 .44 1.82 .58 1.49 .03

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 22.12 15.10 7.03 1.28 .85 1.86 .80 2.20 .03

Service occupations ........................................................... 13.72 9.95 3.77 .76 .28 1.10 .30 1.32 2 ( )

Goods-producing industries3 .............................................. 26.59 17.97 8.62 1.75 1.20 2.20 1.00 2.42 .06

Construction ................................................................... 26.27 18.37 7.90 .91 1.04 1.73 1.25 2.96 2 ( )

Manufacturing ................................................................. 26.41 17.65 8.76 2.02 1.26 2.32 .87 2.20 .09

Service-producing industries4 ............................................ 24.92 18.03 6.88 1.82 .62 1.73 .75 1.94 .03

Transportation and public utilities ................................... 32.21 22.05 10.16 2.50 1.08 2.65 1.30 2.57 .05

Wholesale trade .............................................................. 25.76 18.25 7.51 1.68 .89 2.03 .77 2.10 .04

Retail trade ..................................................................... 15.76 12.13 3.63 .78 .24 .93 .23 1.44 2 ( )

Finance, insurance, and real estate ............................... 32.23 22.68 9.55 2.38 1.40 2.26 1.30 2.10 .11

Services .......................................................................... 25.14 18.40 6.74 1.98 .44 1.67 .71 1.94 2 ( )

All part-time workers in private industry ............................ 12.41 9.96 2.45 .38 .20 .43 .16 1.29 2 ( )

White-collar occupations .................................................... 15.32 12.32 3.00 .57 .27 .52 .21 1.43 2 ( )

Sales ............................................................................... 9.29 7.66 1.63 .21 .10 .22 .09 1.00 2 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 13.63 10.79 2.83 .54 .20 .66 .21 1.22 2 ( )

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 11.99 9.11 2.89 .34 .19 .67 .26 1.42 2 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 8.78 7.23 1.54 .16 .10 .20 .04 1.04 2 ( )

Goods-producing industries3 .............................................. 13.89 10.87 3.02 .44 .17 .39 .33 1.69 2 ( )

Service-producing industries4 ............................................ 12.37 9.93 2.44 .38 .20 .43 .15 1.28 2 ( )

Retail trade ..................................................................... 8.63 7.09 1.54 .16 .09 .21 .08 .99 2 ( )

Service industries ........................................................... 15.76 12.72 3.03 .55 .29 .51 .17 1.51 2 ( )

Percent of total compensation

All full-time workers in private industry ............................. 100.0 71.0 29.0 7.1 3.1 7.3 3.2 8.2 0.2

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 72.2 27.8 7.9 2.8 6.7 3.1 7.1 .2

Sales ............................................................................... 100.0 75.9 24.1 5.6 2.4 6.2 2.0 7.8 .1

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 70.7 29.3 7.3 2.2 9.2 2.9 7.5 .2

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 68.3 31.8 5.8 3.8 8.4 3.6 9.9 .1

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 72.5 27.5 5.5 2.0 8.0 2.2 9.6 5 ( )

Goods-producing industries3 .............................................. 100.0 67.6 32.4 6.6 4.5 8.3 3.8 9.1 .2

Construction ................................................................... 100.0 69.9 30.1 3.5 4.0 6.6 4.8 11.3 5 ( )

Manufacturing ................................................................. 100.0 66.8 33.2 7.6 4.8 8.8 3.3 8.3 .3

Service-producing industries4 ............................................ 100.0 72.4 27.6 7.3 2.5 6.9 3.0 7.8 .1

Transportation and public utilities ................................... 100.0 68.5 31.5 7.8 3.4 8.2 4.0 8.0 .2

Wholesale trade .............................................................. 100.0 70.8 29.2 6.5 3.5 7.9 3.0 8.2 .2

Retail trade ..................................................................... 100.0 77.0 23.0 4.9 1.5 5.9 1.5 9.1 5 ( )

Finance, insurance, and real estate ............................... 100.0 70.4 29.6 7.4 4.3 7.0 4.0 6.5 .3

Services .......................................................................... 100.0 73.2 26.8 7.9 1.8 6.6 2.8 7.7 5 ( )

All part-time workers in private industry ............................ 100.0 80.3 19.7 3.1 1.6 3.5 1.3 10.4 5 ( )

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 80.4 19.6 3.7 1.8 3.4 1.4 9.3 5 ( )

Sales ............................................................................... 100.0 82.5 17.5 2.3 1.1 2.4 1.0 10.8 5 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 79.2 20.8 4.0 1.5 4.8 1.5 9.0 5 ( )

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 76.0 24.1 2.8 1.6 5.6 2.2 11.8 5 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 82.3 17.5 1.8 1.1 2.3 .5 11.8 5 ( )

Goods-producing industries3 .............................................. 100.0 78.3 21.7 3.2 1.2 2.8 2.4 12.2 5 ( )

Service-producing industries4 ............................................ 100.0 80.3 19.7 3.1 1.6 3.5 1.2 10.3 5 ( )

Retail trade ..................................................................... 100.0 82.2 17.8 1.9 1.0 2.4 .9 11.5 5 ( )

Service industries ........................................................... 100.0 80.7 19.2 3.5 1.8 3.2 1.1 9.6 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.
14 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

All workers in private industry ................................................. $22.37 $16.15 $6.22 $1.47 $0.64 $1.52 $0.67 $1.89 $0.03

Occupational group

White-collar occupations .................................................... 27.10 19.84 7.26 2.00 .73 1.71 .79 2.00 .04

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 36.94 26.97 9.97 3.00 .88 2.16 1.21 2.67 .05

Professional specialty ................................................. 40.10 29.46 10.65 3.36 .93 2.17 1.29 2.85 .06

Technical .................................................................... 29.45 21.09 8.36 2.15 .78 2.13 1.03 2.24 .02

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 44.14 31.89 12.25 3.64 1.76 2.38 1.45 2.93 .09

Sales ............................................................................... 16.96 13.13 3.83 .83 .35 .90 .29 1.44 2 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 18.59 13.38 5.22 1.26 .39 1.59 .51 1.44 .03

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 20.92 14.38 6.54 1.17 .77 1.72 .74 2.11 .03

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 27.01 18.65 8.36 1.60 .91 2.03 1.11 2.66 .04

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............ 19.20 12.72 6.48 1.25 1.00 1.82 .57 1.79 .04

Transportation and material moving ............................... 20.35 14.01 6.35 1.01 .68 1.68 .76 2.19 .03

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 15.06 10.67 4.39 .66 .44 1.25 .40 1.63 2 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 11.41 8.68 2.73 .48 .20 .68 .18 1.19 2 ( )

Industry group

Goods-producing industries3 .............................................. 26.25 17.78 8.47 1.71 1.17 2.15 .98 2.40 .06

Construction ................................................................... 26.05 18.26 7.79 .90 1.02 1.69 1.23 2.94 2 ( )

Manufacturing ................................................................. 26.02 17.43 8.59 1.97 1.23 2.27 .86 2.18 .08

Durables ..................................................................... 27.53 18.28 9.25 2.13 1.40 2.42 .90 2.29 .12

Nondurables ............................................................... 23.86 16.22 7.65 1.76 .98 2.06 .80 2.02 .04

Service-producing industries4 ............................................ 21.30 15.70 5.60 1.40 .50 1.35 .58 1.75 .02

Transportation and public utilities ................................... 30.34 20.77 9.57 2.29 .98 2.53 1.23 2.51 .04

Wholesale trade .............................................................. 24.75 17.59 7.16 1.57 .85 1.91 .72 2.05 .04

Retail trade ..................................................................... 12.20 9.61 2.58 .47 .17 .57 .16 1.22 2 ( )

Finance, insurance, and real estate ............................... 30.14 21.31 8.83 2.18 1.27 2.09 1.19 2.01 .10

Services .......................................................................... 22.68 16.91 5.77 1.61 .40 1.36 .57 1.82 2 ( )

Percent of total compensation

All workers in private industry ................................................. 100.0 72.2 27.8 6.6 2.9 6.8 3.0 8.4 0.1

Occupational group

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 73.2 26.8 7.4 2.7 6.3 2.9 7.4 .1

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 100.0 73.0 27.0 8.1 2.4 5.8 3.3 7.2 .1

Professional specialty ................................................. 100.0 73.5 26.6 8.4 2.3 5.4 3.2 7.1 .1

Technical .................................................................... 100.0 71.6 28.4 7.3 2.6 7.2 3.5 7.6 .1

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 100.0 72.2 27.8 8.2 4.0 5.4 3.3 6.6 .2

Sales ............................................................................... 100.0 77.4 22.6 4.9 2.1 5.3 1.7 8.5 5 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 72.0 28.1 6.8 2.1 8.6 2.7 7.7 .2

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 68.7 31.3 5.6 3.7 8.2 3.5 10.1 .1

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 100.0 69.0 31.0 5.9 3.4 7.5 4.1 9.8 .1

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............ 100.0 66.3 33.8 6.5 5.2 9.5 3.0 9.3 .2

Transportation and material moving ............................... 100.0 68.8 31.2 5.0 3.3 8.3 3.7 10.8 .1

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 100.0 70.8 29.2 4.4 2.9 8.3 2.7 10.8 5 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 76.1 23.9 4.2 1.8 6.0 1.6 10.4 5 ( )

Industry group

Goods-producing industries3 .............................................. 100.0 67.7 32.3 6.5 4.5 8.2 3.7 9.1 .2

Construction ................................................................... 100.0 70.1 29.9 3.5 3.9 6.5 4.7 11.3 5 ( )

Manufacturing ................................................................. 100.0 67.0 33.0 7.6 4.7 8.7 3.3 8.4 .3

Durables ..................................................................... 100.0 66.4 33.6 7.7 5.1 8.8 3.3 8.3 .4

Nondurables ............................................................... 100.0 68.0 32.1 7.4 4.1 8.6 3.4 8.5 .2

Service-producing industries4 ............................................ 100.0 73.7 26.3 6.6 2.3 6.3 2.7 8.2 .1

Transportation and public utilities ................................... 100.0 68.5 31.5 7.5 3.2 8.3 4.1 8.3 .1

Wholesale trade .............................................................. 100.0 71.1 28.9 6.3 3.4 7.7 2.9 8.3 .2

Retail trade ..................................................................... 100.0 78.8 21.1 3.9 1.4 4.7 1.3 10.0 5 ( )

Finance, insurance, and real estate ............................... 100.0 70.7 29.3 7.2 4.2 6.9 3.9 6.7 .3

Services .......................................................................... 100.0 74.6 25.4 7.1 1.8 6.0 2.5 8.0 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.
15 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

All workers, goods-producing industries2 ......................... $26.25 $17.78 $8.47 $1.71 $1.17 $2.15 $0.98 $2.40 $0.06

White-collar occupations .................................................... 35.33 24.41 10.92 2.88 1.59 2.57 1.20 2.56 .12

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 39.56 27.13 12.43 3.58 1.30 2.99 1.54 2.82 .20

Professional specialty ................................................. 45.09 31.11 13.99 4.23 1.35 3.08 1.89 3.15 .28

Technical .................................................................... 30.82 20.84 9.98 2.56 1.24 2.86 .97 2.30 .06

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 49.12 33.60 15.52 4.05 3.44 2.81 1.61 3.50 .12

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 21.80 14.95 6.85 1.60 .80 2.12 .62 1.68 .04

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 23.05 15.45 7.59 1.29 1.00 2.00 .91 2.35 .04

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 27.88 18.94 8.94 1.48 1.01 2.19 1.30 2.92 .05

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............ 20.89 13.56 7.33 1.42 1.18 2.08 .68 1.92 .05

Transportation and material moving ............................... 24.94 16.32 8.62 1.30 1.20 2.31 1.10 2.67 .05

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 16.48 11.54 4.94 .68 .58 1.33 .46 1.88 3 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 20.37 12.95 7.42 1.30 2.03 1.93 .50 1.61 .06

All workers, service-producing industries4 ....................... 21.30 15.70 5.60 1.40 .50 1.35 .58 1.75 .02

White-collar occupations .................................................... 26.08 19.27 6.81 1.89 .62 1.60 .74 1.93 .03

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 36.52 26.95 9.57 2.91 .82 2.02 1.16 2.64 .02

Professional specialty ................................................. 39.41 29.23 10.19 3.24 .87 2.04 1.20 2.81 .03

Technical .................................................................... 29.15 21.15 8.00 2.06 .68 1.97 1.05 2.22 3 ( )

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 43.06 31.52 11.54 3.55 1.39 2.28 1.42 2.81 .09

Sales ............................................................................... 16.44 12.73 3.72 .80 .35 .88 .27 1.41 3 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 18.18 13.18 5.01 1.22 .34 1.52 .50 1.41 .02

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 18.71 13.27 5.43 1.05 .53 1.42 .56 1.86 .02

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 25.74 18.23 7.52 1.79 .78 1.80 .83 2.29 .02

Transportation and material moving ............................... 19.15 13.40 5.75 .94 .54 1.51 .67 2.06 .03

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 14.23 10.16 4.07 .65 .36 1.20 .36 1.49 3 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 11.29 8.62 2.67 .47 .17 .66 .17 1.19 3 ( )

Percent of total compensation

All workers, goods-producing industries2 ......................... 100.0 67.7 32.3 6.5 4.5 8.2 3.7 9.1 0.2

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 69.1 30.9 8.2 4.5 7.3 3.4 7.2 .3

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 100.0 68.6 31.4 9.0 3.3 7.6 3.9 7.1 .5

Professional specialty ................................................. 100.0 69.0 31.0 9.4 3.0 6.8 4.2 7.0 .6

Technical .................................................................... 100.0 67.6 32.4 8.3 4.0 9.3 3.1 7.5 .2

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 100.0 68.4 31.6 8.2 7.0 5.7 3.3 7.1 .2

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 68.6 31.4 7.3 3.7 9.7 2.8 7.7 .2

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 67.0 32.9 5.6 4.3 8.7 3.9 10.2 .2

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 100.0 67.9 32.1 5.3 3.6 7.9 4.7 10.5 .2

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............ 100.0 64.9 35.1 6.8 5.6 10.0 3.3 9.2 .2

Transportation and material moving ............................... 100.0 65.4 34.6 5.2 4.8 9.3 4.4 10.7 .2

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 100.0 70.0 30.0 4.1 3.5 8.1 2.8 11.4 5 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 63.6 36.4 6.4 10.0 9.5 2.5 7.9 .3

All workers, service-producing industries4 ....................... 100.0 73.7 26.3 6.6 2.3 6.3 2.7 8.2 .1

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 73.9 26.1 7.2 2.4 6.1 2.8 7.4 .1

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 100.0 73.8 26.2 8.0 2.2 5.5 3.2 7.2 .1

Professional specialty ................................................. 100.0 74.2 25.9 8.2 2.2 5.2 3.0 7.1 .1

Technical .................................................................... 100.0 72.6 27.4 7.1 2.3 6.8 3.6 7.6 5 ( )

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 100.0 73.2 26.8 8.2 3.2 5.3 3.3 6.5 .2

Sales ............................................................................... 100.0 77.4 22.6 4.9 2.1 5.4 1.6 8.6 5 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 72.5 27.6 6.7 1.9 8.4 2.8 7.8 .1

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 70.9 29.0 5.6 2.8 7.6 3.0 9.9 .1

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 100.0 70.8 29.2 7.0 3.0 7.0 3.2 8.9 .1

Transportation and material moving ............................... 100.0 70.0 30.0 4.9 2.8 7.9 3.5 10.8 .2

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 100.0 71.4 28.6 4.6 2.5 8.4 2.5 10.5 5 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 76.4 23.6 4.2 1.5 5.8 1.5 10.5 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.
16 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

All workers, manufacturing industries ............................... $26.02 $17.43 $8.59 $1.97 $1.23 $2.27 $0.86 $2.18 $0.08

White-collar occupations .................................................... 35.75 24.69 11.06 3.10 1.42 2.68 1.19 2.52 .15

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 40.08 27.45 12.63 3.71 1.31 3.01 1.53 2.85 .22

Professional specialty ................................................. 44.59 30.82 13.77 4.22 1.29 3.04 1.77 3.14 .30

Technical .................................................................... 31.86 21.32 10.54 2.77 1.33 2.95 1.10 2.31 .07

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 51.53 35.72 15.81 4.70 2.90 3.02 1.63 3.40 .17

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 22.16 15.02 7.14 1.70 .85 2.24 .60 1.70 .05

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 21.95 14.41 7.54 1.50 1.13 2.10 .72 2.04 .06

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 27.52 18.14 9.38 2.05 1.33 2.43 .99 2.50 .09

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............ 20.84 13.51 7.33 1.43 1.18 2.09 .68 1.90 .05

Transportation and material moving ............................... 22.67 14.98 7.70 1.42 1.09 2.05 .77 2.29 .08

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 16.22 11.02 5.19 .90 .63 1.61 .38 1.65 2 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 21.49 13.40 8.09 1.44 2.27 2.14 .56 1.61 .06

All workers, nonmanufacturing industries ........................ 21.71 15.92 5.79 1.38 .54 1.39 .63 1.84 .02

White-collar occupations .................................................... 26.27 19.38 6.89 1.89 .66 1.61 .76 1.95 .03

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 36.50 26.91 9.60 2.90 .82 2.04 1.17 2.64 .02

Professional specialty ................................................. 39.53 29.28 10.25 3.25 .88 2.06 1.22 2.81 .03

Technical .................................................................... 29.04 21.05 7.99 2.05 .69 1.99 1.02 2.22 2 ( )

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 43.14 31.37 11.77 3.50 1.60 2.29 1.43 2.87 .08

Sales ............................................................................... 16.57 12.83 3.74 .80 .35 .88 .28 1.42 2 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 18.24 13.21 5.02 1.22 .34 1.52 .50 1.41 .02

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 20.38 14.37 6.01 1.00 .58 1.52 .75 2.14 .02

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 26.82 18.84 7.98 1.44 .76 1.89 1.15 2.72 .02

Transportation and material moving ............................... 20.03 13.87 6.16 .96 .62 1.63 .76 2.17 .03

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 14.75 10.57 4.18 .60 .39 1.15 .40 1.63 2 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 11.29 8.62 2.67 .47 .17 .66 .17 1.19 2 ( )

Percent of total compensation

All workers, manufacturing industries ............................... 100.0 67.0 33.0 7.6 4.7 8.7 3.3 8.4 0.3

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 69.1 30.9 8.7 4.0 7.5 3.3 7.0 .4

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 100.0 68.5 31.5 9.3 3.3 7.5 3.8 7.1 .5

Professional specialty ................................................. 100.0 69.1 30.9 9.5 2.9 6.8 4.0 7.0 .7

Technical .................................................................... 100.0 66.9 33.1 8.7 4.2 9.3 3.5 7.3 .2

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 100.0 69.3 30.7 9.1 5.6 5.9 3.2 6.6 .3

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 67.8 32.2 7.7 3.8 10.1 2.7 7.7 .2

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 65.6 34.4 6.8 5.1 9.6 3.3 9.3 .3

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 100.0 65.9 34.1 7.4 4.8 8.8 3.6 9.1 .3

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors ............ 100.0 64.8 35.2 6.9 5.7 10.0 3.3 9.1 .2

Transportation and material moving ............................... 100.0 66.1 34.0 6.3 4.8 9.0 3.4 10.1 .4

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 100.0 67.9 32.0 5.5 3.9 9.9 2.3 10.2 3 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 62.4 37.6 6.7 10.6 10.0 2.6 7.5 .3

All workers, nonmanufacturing industries ........................ 100.0 73.3 26.7 6.4 2.5 6.4 2.9 8.5 .1

White-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 73.8 26.2 7.2 2.5 6.1 2.9 7.4 .1

Professional specialty and technical ............................... 100.0 73.7 26.3 7.9 2.2 5.6 3.2 7.2 .1

Professional specialty ................................................. 100.0 74.1 25.9 8.2 2.2 5.2 3.1 7.1 .1

Technical .................................................................... 100.0 72.5 27.5 7.1 2.4 6.9 3.5 7.6 3 ( )

Executive, administrative, and managerial ..................... 100.0 72.7 27.3 8.1 3.7 5.3 3.3 6.7 .2

Sales ............................................................................... 100.0 77.4 22.6 4.8 2.1 5.3 1.7 8.6 3 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ........................ 100.0 72.4 27.5 6.7 1.9 8.3 2.7 7.7 .1

Blue-collar occupations ...................................................... 100.0 70.5 29.5 4.9 2.8 7.5 3.7 10.5 .1

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................ 100.0 70.2 29.8 5.4 2.8 7.0 4.3 10.1 .1

Transportation and material moving ............................... 100.0 69.2 30.8 4.8 3.1 8.1 3.8 10.8 .1

Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers .... 100.0 71.7 28.3 4.1 2.6 7.8 2.7 11.1 3 ( )

Service occupations ........................................................... 100.0 76.4 23.6 4.2 1.5 5.8 1.5 10.5 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.
17 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

All union workers, private industry .................................... $30.68 $19.95 $10.72 $2.19 $1.11 $2.99 $1.73 $2.61 $0.08

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 30.76 19.37 11.39 2.09 1.28 3.16 1.95 2.80 .10

Goods-producing industries2 .............................................. 32.67 20.31 12.35 2.10 1.74 3.30 2.13 2.95 .12

Service-producing industries3 ............................................ 29.26 19.69 9.56 2.25 .67 2.78 1.45 2.37 .04

Manufacturing ..................................................................... 29.63 18.58 11.06 2.38 1.78 2.99 1.26 2.49 .16

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 29.07 18.06 11.00 2.34 1.78 2.97 1.25 2.51 .15

Nonmanufacturing .............................................................. 31.12 20.54 10.58 2.11 .83 3.00 1.94 2.67 .04

All nonunion workers, private industry .............................. 21.36 15.69 5.67 1.38 .59 1.34 .54 1.80 .02

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 18.11 12.96 5.15 .91 .62 1.31 .39 1.91 4 ( )

Goods-producing industries2 .............................................. 24.56 17.11 7.44 1.61 1.02 1.84 .68 2.25 .05

Service-producing industries3 ............................................ 20.60 15.35 5.25 1.33 .48 1.23 .50 1.69 .02

Manufacturing ..................................................................... 25.05 17.12 7.93 1.87 1.08 2.08 .75 2.09 .06

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 19.25 13.02 6.23 1.19 .88 1.76 .52 1.86 .02

Nonmanufacturing .............................................................. 20.78 15.46 5.32 1.31 .51 1.23 .50 1.75 .02

Percent of total compensation

All union workers, private industry .................................... 100.0 65.0 34.9 7.1 3.6 9.7 5.6 8.5 0.3

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 100.0 63.0 37.0 6.8 4.2 10.3 6.3 9.1 .3

Goods-producing industries2 .............................................. 100.0 62.2 37.8 6.4 5.3 10.1 6.5 9.0 .4

Service-producing industries3 ............................................ 100.0 67.3 32.7 7.7 2.3 9.5 5.0 8.1 .1

Manufacturing ..................................................................... 100.0 62.7 37.3 8.0 6.0 10.1 4.3 8.4 .5

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 100.0 62.1 37.8 8.0 6.1 10.2 4.3 8.6 .5

Nonmanufacturing .............................................................. 100.0 66.0 34.0 6.8 2.7 9.6 6.2 8.6 .1

All nonunion workers, private industry .............................. 100.0 73.5 26.5 6.5 2.8 6.3 2.5 8.4 .1

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 100.0 71.6 28.4 5.0 3.4 7.2 2.2 10.5 5 ( )

Goods-producing industries2 .............................................. 100.0 69.7 30.3 6.6 4.2 7.5 2.8 9.2 .2

Service-producing industries3 ............................................ 100.0 74.5 25.5 6.5 2.3 6.0 2.4 8.2 .1

Manufacturing ..................................................................... 100.0 68.3 31.7 7.5 4.3 8.3 3.0 8.3 .2

Blue-collar occupations .................................................. 100.0 67.6 32.4 6.2 4.6 9.1 2.7 9.7 .1

Nonmanufacturing .............................................................. 100.0 74.4 25.6 6.3 2.5 5.9 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.
18 

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, March 2003

Industry and occupational group,

and employment size

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

All workers in private industry ............................................ $22.37 $16.15 $6.22 $1.47 $0.64 $1.52 $0.67 $1.89 $0.03

1-99 workers ....................................................................... 18.93 14.12 4.81 1.05 .48 1.12 .42 1.73 2 ( )

100 or more workers ........................................................... 26.42 18.54 7.88 1.96 .83 2.00 .95 2.08 .05

100-499 workers ............................................................. 22.62 16.15 6.47 1.51 .68 1.69 .66 1.90 .03

500 or more workers ....................................................... 30.94 21.39 9.55 2.50 1.01 2.37 1.29 2.30 .08

Goods-producing industries3 ......................................... 26.25 17.78 8.47 1.71 1.17 2.15 .98 2.40 .06

1-99 workers ................................................................... 22.60 15.85 6.74 1.06 .90 1.63 .71 2.42 2 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 29.05 19.26 9.79 2.21 1.37 2.54 1.18 2.38 .10

100-499 workers ......................................................... 24.55 16.51 8.05 1.58 1.16 2.24 .85 2.17 .05

500 or more workers ................................................... 34.39 22.53 11.86 2.96 1.63 2.90 1.58 2.62 .17

Service-producing industries4 ........................................ 21.30 15.70 5.60 1.40 .50 1.35 .58 1.75 .02

1-99 workers ................................................................... 18.17 13.76 4.41 1.05 .39 1.01 .36 1.58 2 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 25.47 18.28 7.19 1.87 .64 1.81 .87 1.97 .03

100-499 workers ......................................................... 21.92 16.02 5.91 1.48 .51 1.50 .60 1.80 .02

500 or more workers ................................................... 29.69 20.98 8.72 2.33 .79 2.18 1.19 2.18 .05

White-collar occupations ................................................. 27.10 19.84 7.26 2.00 .73 1.71 .79 2.00 .04

1-99 workers ................................................................... 22.81 17.20 5.61 1.49 .58 1.28 .50 1.74 2 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 31.53 22.57 8.96 2.52 .87 2.14 1.09 2.27 .06

100-499 workers ......................................................... 27.19 19.80 7.39 2.01 .70 1.83 .77 2.04 .04

500 or more workers ................................................... 35.80 25.30 10.50 3.02 1.04 2.45 1.41 2.50 .09

Blue-collar occupations ................................................... 20.92 14.38 6.54 1.17 .77 1.72 .74 2.11 .03

1-99 workers ................................................................... 18.97 13.54 5.43 .87 .58 1.34 .52 2.10 2 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 23.29 15.41 7.89 1.54 1.00 2.17 1.00 2.11 .05

100-499 workers ......................................................... 20.64 14.01 6.63 1.19 .82 1.89 .73 1.98 .03

500 or more workers ................................................... 27.47 17.60 9.87 2.10 1.30 2.62 1.42 2.32 .10

Percent of total compensation

All workers in private industry ............................................ 100.0 72.2 27.8 6.6 2.9 6.8 3.0 8.4 0.1

1-99 workers ....................................................................... 100.0 74.6 25.4 5.5 2.5 5.9 2.2 9.1 5 ( )

100 or more workers ........................................................... 100.0 70.2 29.8 7.4 3.1 7.6 3.6 7.9 .2

100-499 workers ............................................................. 100.0 71.4 28.6 6.7 3.0 7.5 2.9 8.4 .1

500 or more workers ....................................................... 100.0 69.1 30.9 8.1 3.3 7.7 4.2 7.4 .3

Goods-producing industries3 ......................................... 100.0 67.7 32.3 6.5 4.5 8.2 3.7 9.1 .2

1-99 workers ................................................................... 100.0 70.1 29.8 4.7 4.0 7.2 3.1 10.7 5 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 100.0 66.3 33.7 7.6 4.7 8.7 4.1 8.2 .3

100-499 workers ......................................................... 100.0 67.3 32.8 6.4 4.7 9.1 3.5 8.8 .2

500 or more workers ................................................... 100.0 65.5 34.5 8.6 4.7 8.4 4.6 7.6 .5

Service-producing industries4 ........................................ 100.0 73.7 26.3 6.6 2.3 6.3 2.7 8.2 .1

1-99 workers ................................................................... 100.0 75.7 24.3 5.8 2.1 5.6 2.0 8.7 5 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 100.0 71.8 28.2 7.3 2.5 7.1 3.4 7.7 .1

100-499 workers ......................................................... 100.0 73.1 27.0 6.8 2.3 6.8 2.7 8.2 .1

500 or more workers ................................................... 100.0 70.7 29.4 7.8 2.7 7.3 4.0 7.3 .2

White-collar occupations ................................................. 100.0 73.2 26.8 7.4 2.7 6.3 2.9 7.4 .1

1-99 workers ................................................................... 100.0 75.4 24.6 6.5 2.5 5.6 2.2 7.6 5 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 100.0 71.6 28.4 8.0 2.8 6.8 3.5 7.2 .2

100-499 workers ......................................................... 100.0 72.8 27.2 7.4 2.6 6.7 2.8 7.5 .1

500 or more workers ................................................... 100.0 70.7 29.3 8.4 2.9 6.8 3.9 7.0 .3

Blue-collar occupations ................................................... 100.0 68.7 31.3 5.6 3.7 8.2 3.5 10.1 .1

1-99 workers ................................................................... 100.0 71.4 28.6 4.6 3.1 7.1 2.7 11.1 5 ( )

100 or more workers ....................................................... 100.0 66.2 33.9 6.6 4.3 9.3 4.3 9.1 .2

100-499 workers ......................................................... 100.0 67.9 32.1 5.8 4.0 9.2 3.5 9.6 .1

500 or more workers ................................................... 100.0 64.1 35.9 7.6 4.7 9.5 5.2 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.
19 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

Health services ................................................................... $25.53 $18.55 $6.98 $2.13 $0.52 $1.67 $0.72 $1.94 2 ( )

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 36.88 26.88 10.00 3.45 .86 2.00 1.02 2.65 2 ( )

Professional specialty ............................................... 44.28 32.28 12.00 4.52 1.00 2.17 1.29 3.01 2 ( )

Nurses .................................................................. 34.96 24.99 9.97 2.93 1.22 2.07 1.01 2.73 2 ( )

Technical .................................................................. 24.96 18.19 6.77 1.74 .65 1.72 .60 2.06 2 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ...................... 16.58 12.00 4.58 1.06 .23 1.48 .48 1.33 2 ( )

Service occupations ......................................................... 14.17 10.22 3.95 .83 .30 1.22 .32 1.27 2 ( )

Hospitals ......................................................................... 28.48 19.98 8.50 2.38 .85 2.27 .83 2.15 .02

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 35.00 24.79 10.21 2.99 1.23 2.35 1.01 2.62 2 ( )

Professional specialty ............................................... 38.69 27.53 11.16 3.37 1.35 2.40 1.16 2.87 2 ( )

Nurses .................................................................. 37.76 26.69 11.07 3.28 1.48 2.35 1.11 2.84 2 ( )

Technical .................................................................. 25.96 18.08 7.87 2.06 .92 2.21 .63 2.02 .02

Administrative support, including clerical ...................... 18.84 12.64 6.20 1.49 .39 2.28 .63 1.41 2 ( )

Service occupations ......................................................... 16.50 11.03 5.46 1.15 .45 2.08 .43 1.35 2 ( )

Nursing homes ............................................................... 16.72 12.36 4.36 1.13 .41 1.02 .23 1.56 2 ( )

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 24.59 18.45 6.14 1.67 .73 1.10 .37 2.26 2 ( )

Professional specialty ............................................... 27.89 21.01 6.88 2.01 .75 1.12 .46 2.53 2 ( )

Technical .................................................................. 21.83 16.31 5.52 1.38 .72 1.08 .29 2.04 2 ( )

Service occupations ......................................................... 12.76 9.28 3.48 .79 .33 .96 .17 1.24 2 ( )

Percent of total compensation

Health services ................................................................... 100.0 72.7 27.3 8.3 2.0 6.5 2.8 7.6 3 ( )

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 100.0 72.9 27.1 9.4 2.3 5.4 2.8 7.2 3 ( )

Professional specialty ............................................... 100.0 72.9 27.1 10.2 2.3 4.9 2.9 6.8 3 ( )

Nurses .................................................................. 100.0 71.5 28.5 8.4 3.5 5.9 2.9 7.8 3 ( )

Technical .................................................................. 100.0 72.9 27.1 7.0 2.6 6.9 2.4 8.3 3 ( )

Administrative support, including clerical ...................... 100.0 72.4 27.6 6.4 1.4 8.9 2.9 8.0 3 ( )

Service occupations ......................................................... 100.0 72.1 27.9 5.9 2.1 8.6 2.3 9.0 3 ( )

Hospitals ......................................................................... 100.0 70.2 29.8 8.4 3.0 8.0 2.9 7.5 .1

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 100.0 70.8 29.2 8.5 3.5 6.7 2.9 7.5 3 ( )

Professional specialty ............................................... 100.0 71.2 28.8 8.7 3.5 6.2 3.0 7.4 3 ( )

Nurses .................................................................. 100.0 70.7 29.3 8.7 3.9 6.2 2.9 7.5 3 ( )

Technical .................................................................. 100.0 69.6 30.3 7.9 3.5 8.5 2.4 7.8 .1

Administrative support, including clerical ...................... 100.0 67.1 32.9 7.9 2.1 12.1 3.3 7.5 3 ( )

Service occupations ......................................................... 100.0 66.8 33.1 7.0 2.7 12.6 2.6 8.2 3 ( )

Nursing homes ............................................................... 100.0 73.9 26.1 6.8 2.5 6.1 1.4 9.3 3 ( )

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 100.0 75.0 25.0 6.8 3.0 4.5 1.5 9.2 3 ( )

Professional specialty ............................................... 100.0 75.3 24.7 7.2 2.7 4.0 1.6 9.1 3 ( )

Technical .................................................................. 100.0 74.7 25.3 6.3 3.3 4.9 1.3 9.3 3 ( )

Service occupations ......................................................... 100.0 72.7 27.3 6.2 2.6 7.5 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.
20 

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, March 2003

Series

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits1

Cost per hour worked by year

Transportation equipment manufacturing (SIC 37) ......... $36.75 $23.41 $13.34 $3.08 $2.48 $3.17 $1.40 $2.96 $0.24

White-collar occupations .................................................. 48.91 32.93 15.98 4.66 2.24 3.53 1.84 3.49 .22

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 50.35 33.48 16.87 5.10 2.11 3.85 1.86 3.72 .23

Executive, administrative, and managerial ................... 62.98 44.49 18.49 5.56 3.31 3.13 2.28 3.98 .22

Blue-collar occupations .................................................... 30.80 18.76 12.04 2.31 2.61 2.99 1.18 2.71 .24

Service occupations ......................................................... 30.90 18.43 12.47 2.66 2.07 3.54 1.48 2.42 .28

Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) ................................ 45.85 28.71 17.14 4.02 2.81 4.18 2.40 3.50 .23

White-collar occupations .............................................. 49.04 31.59 17.45 4.60 2.24 4.19 2.55 3.63 .24

Blue-collar occupations ................................................ 40.77 24.11 16.67 3.08 3.77 4.14 2.13 3.32 .22

Public utilities (SIC’s 48, 49) .............................................. 35.50 23.70 11.80 3.37 1.51 3.06 1.15 2.60 .11

White-collar occupations .................................................. 35.56 24.10 11.47 3.28 1.53 2.99 1.00 2.53 .14

Blue-collar occupations .................................................... 35.63 23.15 12.48 3.56 1.49 3.20 1.42 2.74 .07

Communications (SIC 48) .............................................. 34.32 23.38 10.95 3.28 1.35 2.87 .88 2.45 .11

White-collar occupations .............................................. 34.05 23.48 10.56 3.11 1.33 2.78 .81 2.42 .11

Blue-collar occupations ................................................ 35.20 23.23 11.98 3.73 1.43 3.11 1.06 2.55 .10

Electric, gas, and sanitary services (SIC 49) ............... 37.70 24.32 13.39 3.52 1.81 3.40 1.65 2.88 .13

White-collar occupations .............................................. 39.63 25.74 13.89 3.71 2.08 3.55 1.49 2.85 .20

Blue-collar occupations ................................................ 36.08 23.06 13.02 3.38 1.55 3.29 1.82 2.93 .05

Percent of total compensation

Transportation equipment manufacturing (SIC 37) ......... 100.0 63.7 36.3 8.4 6.7 8.6 3.8 8.1 0.7

White-collar occupations .................................................. 100.0 67.3 32.7 9.5 4.6 7.2 3.8 7.1 .4

Professional specialty and technical ............................. 100.0 66.5 33.5 10.1 4.2 7.6 3.7 7.4 .5

Executive, administrative, and managerial ................... 100.0 70.6 29.4 8.8 5.3 5.0 3.6 6.3 .3

Blue-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 60.9 39.1 7.5 8.5 9.7 3.8 8.8 .8

Service occupations ......................................................... 100.0 59.6 40.4 8.6 6.7 11.5 4.8 7.8 .9

Aircraft manufacturing (SIC 3721) ................................ 100.0 62.6 37.4 8.8 6.1 9.1 5.2 7.6 .5

White-collar occupations .............................................. 100.0 64.4 35.6 9.4 4.6 8.5 5.2 7.4 .5

Blue-collar occupations ................................................ 100.0 59.1 40.9 7.6 9.2 10.2 5.2 8.1 .5

Public utilities (SIC’s 48, 49) .............................................. 100.0 66.8 33.2 9.5 4.3 8.6 3.2 7.3 .3

White-collar occupations .................................................. 100.0 67.8 32.3 9.2 4.3 8.4 2.8 7.1 .4

Blue-collar occupations .................................................... 100.0 65.0 35.0 10.0 4.2 9.0 4.0 7.7 .2

Communications (SIC 48) .............................................. 100.0 68.1 31.9 9.6 3.9 8.4 2.6 7.1 .3

White-collar occupations .............................................. 100.0 69.0 31.0 9.1 3.9 8.2 2.4 7.1 .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 35.5 9.3 4.8 9.0 4.4 7.6 .3

White-collar occupations .............................................. 100.0 65.0 35.0 9.4 5.2 9.0 3.8 7.2 .5

Blue-collar occupations ................................................ 100.0 63.9 36.1 9.4 4.3 9.1 5.0 8.1 .1

1 Includes severance pay and supplemental unemployment benefits.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
21 

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 cost levels for this quarter were collected from a probability sample of about 27,850 occupations 

within approximately 6,850 sample establishments in private industry and about 3,700 occupations within 

approximately 800 sample establishments in State and local government. Data are collected for the pay period 

including the 12th day of the survey months of March, June, September, and December. 

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 and classified into about 500 occupational classifications 

according to the 1990 Census of Population. Individual occupations are combined to represent broader major 

occupational groups such as professional specialty and technical occupations. 

Beginning with release of the March 2004 estimates, the ECEC will classify industry categories based 

on the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and classify jobs into occupational 

classifications according to the 2002 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual. The NAICS and 

SOC conversions will involve major definitional changes to many of the currently published series. 

 Current employment weights are used to calculate cost levels. The March 2003 cost levels were 

calculated using the March 2003 employment counts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment 

Statistics (CES) program, benchmarked to the 2001 universe of all private nonfarm establishments. The CES 

program has converted from the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC) basis to the 2002 North 

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) with the release of their May 2003 estimates. The ECEC 

will use the March 2003 SIC employment counts for the remainder of 2003 before converting to NAICS 

employment counts with the release of the March 2004 ECEC estimates. 
22 

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 annual historical summary from March 1986 through 

March 2002 is also available on the Internet site (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm) or upon request. Data 

are now available on a quarterly basis beginning with June 2002 data. 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 
23 

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.
24 

Appendix. Employer costs per hour worked for components of compensation, and relative standard errors,1 by major industry and

occupation categories, March 2003

Industry or

 occupation category

Total

compensation

Wages

and

salaries

Benefit costs

Total Paid

leave

Supplemental

pay

Insurance

Retirement

and

savings

Legally

required

benefits

Other

benefits2

Civilian workers

Cost per hour worked by year .......................................... $23.93 $17.17 $6.76 $1.63 $0.59 $1.77 $0.85 $1.89 $0.03

Relative error .................................................................... 1.2 1.2 1.2 2.2 3.6 1.3 2.2 .9 10.8

State and local government workers

Cost per hour worked by year ...................................... $32.62 $22.85 $9.77 $2.51 $.30 $3.12 $1.85 $1.93 $.06

Relative error ................................................................ 1.3 1.3 1.6 2.0 5.9 1.7 3.4 2.0 26.5

Private industry workers

Cost per hour worked by year ...................................... $22.37 $16.15 $6.22 $1.47 $.64 $1.52 $.67 $1.89 $.03

Relative error ................................................................ 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.8 3.8 1.6 2.6 .9 10.9

Goods-producing industries3

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $26.25 $17.78 $8.47 $1.71 $1.17 $2.15 $.98 $2.40 $.06

Relative error ............................................................ 1.8 1.5 2.8 3.2 6.3 2.7 5.4 1.8 16.8

Service-producing industries4

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $21.30 $15.70 $5.60 $1.40 $.50 $1.35 $.58 $1.75 $.02

Relative error ............................................................ 1.7 1.9 1.6 3.4 4.5 2.1 3.1 1.0 12.5

Manufacturing

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $26.02 $17.43 $8.59 $1.97 $1.23 $2.27 $.86 $2.18 $.08

Relative error ............................................................ 2.1 1.9 2.8 3.6 6.2 3.0 6.1 1.8 17.7

Nonmanufacturing

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $21.71 $15.92 $5.79 $1.38 $.54 $1.39 $.63 $1.84 $.02

Relative error ............................................................ 1.6 1.7 1.5 3.3 4.9 2.0 3.0 .9 13.1

White-collar workers

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $27.10 $19.84 $7.26 $2.00 $.73 $1.71 $.79 $2.00 $.04

Relative error ............................................................ 1.8 2.0 1.5 3.1 6.1 1.8 2.7 1.2 12.7

Blue-collar workers

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $20.92 $14.38 $6.54 $1.17 $.77 $1.72 $.74 $2.11 $.03

Relative error ............................................................ 1.5 1.3 2.2 3.0 2.9 2.6 5.1 1.5 18.2

Service workers

Cost per hour worked by year .................................. $11.41 $8.68 $2.73 $.48 $.20 $.68 $.18 $1.19 5 ( )

Relative error ............................................................ 2.6 2.2 4.1 6.5 10.3 5.5 11.3 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.