In June 2010, average costs in private industry for retirement and savings benefits were 96 cents per hour worked, or 3.5 percent of total compensation. Among occupational groups, employer costs for retirement and savings benefits ranged from 21 cents per hour worked, or 1.5 percent of total compensation, for service occupations, to $1.89 per hour worked, or 3.9 percent of total compensation, for management, professional and related occupations.
In June 2010, the costs of retirement and savings benefits were higher, both in amount and as a proportion of total compensation, for union workers ($2.63 and 7.0 percent of total compensation) than for nonunion workers (78 cents and 2.9 percent of total compensation).
The costs of retirement and savings benefits in June 2010 were higher per hour worked in goods-producing industries ($1.50 and 4.6 percent of total compensation) than in service-providing industries (85 cents and 3.2 percent of total compensation). Within goods-producing industries, retirement and savings costs averaged $1.68 per hour in construction and $1.30 per hour in manufacturing. Costs in service-providing industries varied widely, ranging from 11 cents in leisure and hospitality to $1.63 in the information industry.
This data is from the Compensation Cost Trends program. To learn more, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — June 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-1241.
