Employer Costs for Employee Compensation News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, September 16, 2021			        USDL-21-1647

Technical information:	(202) 691-6199  *  ncsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/ect
Media contact:		(202) 691-5902  *  pressoffice@bls.gov

                       
(NOTE: This news release was reissued on December 17, 2021, correcting data in tables 4, 5, and 6, 
see ww.bls.gov/errata.)

                       EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – June 2021
			
Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $38.91 per hour worked in
June 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wage and salary costs averaged
$26.85 per hour worked or 69.0 percent of total compensation, while benefit costs were $12.06 or
31.0 percent of total compensation. The average cost for health insurance benefits was $3.09 per
hour worked or 8.0 percent of total compensation. (See table 1.)

State and local government worker compensation costs for employers averaged $53.59 per hour worked
in June 2021. Wage and salary costs averaged $33.09 and accounted for 61.7 percent of employer
costs, while benefit costs averaged $20.50 and accounted for 38.3 percent. The average cost of
health insurance benefits was $6.10 per hour worked and accounted for 11.4 percent of total
compensation in June 2021. (See table 1.)

Private industry worker compensation costs for employers averaged $36.64 per hour worked in June
2021. Wage and salary costs averaged $25.89 and accounted for 70.6 percent of employer costs,
while benefit costs averaged $10.76 and accounted for 29.4 percent. (See table 1.) 

Insurance costs in private industry highlights

The average cost of health insurance benefits was $2.63 per hour worked and accounted for 7.2
percent of total compensation in June 2021. Highlighted health insurance estimates are available
through the database query tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.

Occupational group
Among occupational groups, health insurance costs ranged from $1.06 per hour worked (5.8 percent
of total compensation) for service occupations to $4.10 (6.6 percent of total compensation) for
management, professional, and related occupations.

Bargaining unit status (union and nonunion)
Health insurance cost employers $2.31 (6.5 percent of total compensation) for nonunion workers and
$6.42 per hour worked (12.6 percent) for union workers.

Industry group
Among major industry groups, health insurance costs ranged from $0.67 per hour worked (4.1 percent
of total compensation) in leisure and hospitality to $4.53 (7.9 percent) in information.

Establishment employment size
Health insurance costs by establishment employment size ranged from $1.66 per employee hour worked
(5.6 percent of total compensation) in the smallest establishments (1-49 workers) to $4.62
(8.5 percent) in the largest establishments (500 workers or more).

Census division
Among census divisions, health insurance costs ranged from $1.88 (5.9 percent of total compensation)
in West South Central to $3.10 per employee hour worked (7.1 percent) in the Pacific.

Other insurance benefit costs
Other private industry insurance benefit costs were $0.04 per employee hour worked (0.1 percent of
total compensation) for life insurance, $0.04 (0.1 percent) for long-term disability, and $0.08
(0.2 percent) for short-term disability.

 _________________________________________________________________________________________________
|               Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on June 2021 ECEC Data                     |
|The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) reference date was June 12, 2021.            |
|Response rates for December were comparable with prior releases, and no changes in estimation    |
|procedures were necessary. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/home.htm.  |
|_________________________________________________________________________________________________|

                                          
                                          TECHNICAL NOTE
                                          
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey,
provides the average employer cost for wages and salaries as well as benefits per employee hour
worked. The ECEC covers the civilian economy, which includes data from both private industry and
state and local government. Excluded from private industry are the self-employed, agricultural
workers, and private household workers. Federal government workers are excluded from the public
sector.

Total benefit costs consist of five major categories and include 18 benefit costs:
* Paid leave - vacation, holiday, sick, and personal leave; 
* Supplemental pay - overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses; 
* Insurance - life, health, short-term and long-term disability; 
* Retirement and savings - defined benefit and defined contribution; and 
* Legally required benefits - Social Security (refers to Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability
  Insurance (OASDI) program), Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance, and Workers’
  Compensation.

All workers are included in the benefit cost estimates including those that do not have plan access
or do not participate. Costs are also affected by other factors such as cost sharing between
employers and employees, plan features, and plan generosity. For the latest information on the
percentage of workers with access to and participating in employer-sponsored benefit plans,
including health care and retirement and savings plans, see www.bls.gov/ebs.

The "National Compensation Measures" provides additional details on the sample design, calculation
methodology, and resources explaining changes over time. (See www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ncs/home.htm.)
Additional ECEC estimates, including historical data, are available in the ECEC database query tool
at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.

Sample size
Data for this reference period were collected from a probability sample of approximately 24,200
occupational observations selected from a sample of about 6,000 private industry establishments and
approximately 7,700 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 1,400 state and local
government establishments that provided data at the initial interview.

Measures of reliability
Relative standard errors (RSEs) provide users a tool to ascertain the quality of an estimate to
ensure that it is within an acceptable range for their intended purpose. RSEs are available at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/ecec-rse.htm and database query tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.

Comparisons
Compensation cost levels in state and local government should not be directly compared with levels
in private industry. Differences between these sectors stem from factors such as variation in work
activities and occupational structures.

Classification systems
The National Compensation Survey publishes estimates of compensation costs and trends as well as
benefit coverage by ownership, industry group, occupational group, and geographic areas. For more
information on the classification systems used to identify ownerships, industry groups, occupational
groups, and geographic areas, see www.bls.gov/ncs/national-compensation-survey-classification-
systems-mapping-files.htm.

Additional information
Estimates that have been published on supplemental tables (PDF) and (TXT) are now part of the 
news release tables 4, 5, and 6. The 2021 ECEC release schedule is available at
www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/ecec.htm. Subscribe to receive the BLS Economic News Release
email at www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm.