New England tops employee comp costs

By PBN Staff

BOSTON – At $33.49 an hour, New England employers had the highest employee compensation costs of the nine geographic divisions nationwide in September.

Compensation costs for private industry employers were lowest at $22.82 in the East South Central division, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

New England employers paid out $23.61 an hour, or 70.5 percent of total compensation, in wages and salaries; $9.88 in total benefits - $2.42 in paid leave; 92 cents in supplemental pay; $2.65 in insurance; $1.20 in retirement and savings; and $2.69 in legally required benefits.

The BLS also looked at total compensation by the nation’s four geographic regions – Northeast, South, Midwest and West. Leading the nation was the Northeast, at $32.44 per hour in total compensation, followed by the West, at $30.14, the Midwest, $27.43, and the South, $25.14.

Nationally, compensation costs among private industry employers averaged $28.24 per hour worked in September – wages and salaries accounted for 70.5 percent of the costs while benefits made up the remaining 29.5 percent.