PROVIDENCE – Private-industry employers in New England paid $40.48 per hour worked in combined wages, salary and benefits in December 2017, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday.
New England has the second-highest employer costs per hour in the study behind the Middle Atlantic region, which had employer costs of $41.08 per hour worked.
In New England, wages and salaries cost employers $27.78 per hour while benefits cost employers $12.70 per hour worked.
Of those benefits, paid leave, including vacation, holiday, sick days and personal days, accounted for $3.14 per hour, the highest paid leave costs of any region in the United States.
New England also had the highest insurance costs of any region in the U.S., accounting for $3.54 per hour worked.
Employer costs per hour worked in private industry in the Northeast region, the combined New England and Mid Atlantic regions, totaled $40.93 in December 2017 and were the highest of any region in the nation, with the components parts being $27.30 for wages and salary, and $13.63 for benefits. The national average for total compensation costs to employers was $33.72 per hour, made up of $23.47 in wages and salary, and $10.25 in benefits.
The South region of the U.S. reported the lowest compensation costs for employee per hour in December at a combined $30.36 per hour, $3.36 per hour less than the national average.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
