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∙ U.S. Average Cost to Employ: $30.69 Per Hour Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $30.69 per hour worked in March 2012. Wages and salaries averaged $21.27 per hour worked and accounted for 69.3 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.42 and accounted for the remaining 30.7 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $28.78 per hour worked in March 2012. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $41.16 per hour worked. Private Industry: Employer costs for private industry workers averaged $2.34 per hour worked for insurance benefits (life, health, and disability insurance), or 8.1 percent of total compensation. In addition to insurance, the other benefit categories were: ∙ legally required benefits (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation), which averaged $2.36 per hour worked (8.2 percent); ∙ paid leave (vacation, holiday, sick leave, and personal leave), which averaged $1.98 (6.9 percent of total compensation); ∙ retirement and savings (defined benefit and defined contribution plans), which averaged $1.02 per hour worked (3.6 percent); and ∙ supplemental pay (overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses), which averaged 83 cents per hour worked (2.9 percent). Source: USDOL

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