N.E. employer costs highest in country

THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS RELEASED data on Friday showing that private industry-employer costs were the highest in the country in the Northeast at $34.95 per hour. In that division, New England had the highest costs at $35.27 per hour. / COURTESY BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS RELEASED data on Friday showing that private industry-employer costs were the highest in the country in the Northeast at $34.95 per hour. In that division, New England had the highest costs at $35.27 per hour. / COURTESY BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

PROVIDENCE – Compensation costs among private industry employers in New England averaged $35.27 per hour in September, a 47 cent increase since June, and were the highest among the nine geographic regions in the United States, according to a quarterly report released Friday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The national average of compensation costs for September was $30.32 per hour.

A year ago, September’s compensation costs for New England employers averaged $34.48 – again the highest in the country.

Employer costs for employee compensations data are based on the National Compensation Survey, which measures employer costs for wages, salaries and employee benefits. Benefits include insurance costs, Social Security and Medicare, compensation, unemployment insurance, and paid leave benefits.

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In New England, wages and salaries accounted for 70.5 percent of total compensation costs (or $24.88 per hour), while benefits accounted for 29.5 percent of costs (or $10.39 per hour), in September.

Total benefit costs to employers within New England was comprised mostly of legally required benefits such as Social Security and Medicare, $2.81 per hour; insurance, which included life, health, short-, and long-term disability insurance, $2.76 per hour; and paid leave, which included vacation, holiday, sick and personal leave categories, at $2.43 per hour. Retirement and savings added another $1.42 per hour to the total benefits cost in New England.
Nationally, the East South Central division, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, had the lowest compensation costs at $24.29 per hour.
The Northeast region, which also includes New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, had average total compensation costs of $34.95 per hour.

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