Midwest compensation costs rival U.S. average

Midwest employer costs for employee compensation in the private industry reached $28.06 per hour worked in June, comparing closely to the nationwide average cost of $28.80 per hour, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released yesterday.

Employer compensation costs factor in wages, salaries and employee benefits, based on the BLS’ National Compensation Survey completed by 9,500 private industry establishments representing some 47,000 occupations. Missouri data is included in the Midwest region’s West North Central division, which recorded employee compensation costs of $28.18 per hour in June.

Wages and salaries in Missouri’s division, including Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, accounted for 71 percent of the costs, while benefits were 29 percent in June. Health insurance, at 8 percent of benefits costs, represented the largest portion, followed by paid leave, 6.7 percent, and Social Security and Medicare costs, 5.8 percent. Workers’ compensation costs accounted for 1.3 percent in Missouri’s division, the report said.

Nationally, private industry employers in June paid 70 percent of compensation costs in wages and salaries, and 30 percent in benefits.

Compared to the BLS’ previous employer costs report in March, employers in the West North Central division, including Missouri, paid $28 per hour. The percentage split between wages and salaries and benefits was unchanged from March to June.

The BLS said it does not factor the self-employed and farm and private household workers in the private industry report.