Chart: Insurance benefits costs for employers in private industry

Average costs in private industry for insurance benefits were $2.24 per hour worked, or 8.0 percent of total compensation in September 2010. Among occupational groups, employer costs for insurance benefits ranged from 97 cents per hour worked (or 7.0 percent of total compensation) for service occupations, to $3.32 per hour worked (6.7 percent of total compensation) for management, professional and related occupations.

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In September 2010, the costs of insurance benefits were higher, both in amount and as a percentage of total compensation, for union workers ($4.84 or 12.8 percent of total compensation) than for nonunion workers ($1.94 or 7.3 percent of total compensation).

The costs of insurance benefits per hour worked were higher in goods-producing industries ($3.11 or 9.5 percent of total compensation) than in service-providing industries ($2.05 or 7.6 percent of total compensation). Within goods-producing industries, insurance benefits costs averaged $2.34 per hour in construction and $3.40 per hour in manufacturing. Costs in service-providing industries varied from 67 cents in leisure and hospitality to $3.79 in the information industry.

This data is from the Compensation Cost Trends program. See "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — September 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-1687, to learn more. Insurance benefits include life, health, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance.