Link to Bureau of Labor Statistics average employee compensation per hour for December 2008. It also breaks out the average cost of different benefits per hour. Additionally, there are regional, industry, union vs. non-union, and government vs private breakdowns.
"Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $29.18 per hour worked in December 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $20.37, accounted for 69.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.81, accounted for the remaining 30.2 percent."
Wages and salaries average a 4.85 percent annualized increase from Sept. 2008 to Dec. 2008.
"Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $28.87 per hour worked in September 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $20.13, accounted for 69.7 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.74, accounted for the remaining 30.3 percent."
The March 2009, average wage report will be released by BLS on June 10, 2009. A comparison with the upcoming release and with the December 2008 release will answer the question if compensation increased from December 2008 to March 2009.
Despite the decline in employment and the increase in unemployment, average wages probably continued to increase. If wages were declining, we would see greater hiring than we do and a decline in unemployment.
There is also a total employer compensation report and it shows an increase from December 2008 to March 2009. The next release of this report is on July 31, 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment