By Diane Stafford |
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that employers paid an average of $21.27 in wages and salaries per hour worked at the end of the first quarter 2012.
The cost of that compensation accounted for 69.3 percent of total employee costs, while the cost of employee benefits averaged $9.42 and represented 30.7 percent of the total.
This figure doesn't represent average employee earnings; rather, it's the average cost to employers of having a worker on payroll. Total costs vary widely among industries and occupations. Also, many benefits are discretionary.
