Washington, DC…According to the latest numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics the public sector continues to be the most lucrative portion of our economy to work. Historically public sector jobs provided security at a lower compensation rate as a trade off. Government jobs now provide not only security but much higher average hourly compensation. Has the SEIU and other Public Employee Unions done for Government Workers what the UAW did for the Auto Workers in the 70s & 80s? Have they created a wage structure that is unsustainable in the long run? State and local government compensation averaged $51.66 per hour worked in September 2019 while private industry could only manages $34.77 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Wages and salaries averaged $32.19 per hour worked and represented 62.3 percent of total compensation costs, while benefit costs averaged $19.47 and accounted for the remaining 37.7 percent. (See tables 1 and 3.)

Among state and local government occupational groups, total compensation costs ranged from $35.85 per hour worked for sales and office to $62.08 for management, professional, and related occupations. Among industry groups, total compensation costs were $54.10 per hour worked in the education and health services industry and $49.71 in public administration. (See table 3.)

State and local government wages and salaries ranged from $20.68 per hour worked for sales and office to $40.06 for management, professional, and related occupations. Wages and salaries accounted for 57.7 percent of total compensation for sales and office and 64.5 percent in management, professional, and related occupations. (See table 3.)

Total benefit costs ($19.47) include paid leave ($3.87), supplemental pay ($0.51), insurance ($6.07), retirement and savings ($6.17), and legally required benefit ($2.85) costs. The average total benefit costs in the public administration industry were $20.95 or 42.1 percent of total compensation. (See tables1 and 3.)

Benefit costs for state and local government workers – continued

Paid leave consists of vacation ($1.47), holiday ($1.10), sick ($1.00), and personal ($0.31) costs. The average cost for paid leave was $3.87 per hour worked or 7.5 percent of total compensation. The largest paid leave cost among occupational groups was $4.37 per hour worked or 7.0 percent of total compensation for management, professional, and related occupations. The average cost in the junior colleges, colleges and universities industry was $5.22 or 8.7 percent of total compensation. (See tables 1 and 3.)

Supplemental pay costs for state and local government workers averaged $0.51 per hour worked or 1.0 percent of total compensation. These costs include shift differentials, $0.05 (0.1 percent of total compensation), overtime and premium pay, $0.22 (0.4 percent), and nonproduction bonuses $0.24 (0.5 percent). (See tables1 and 3.)

The percentage of workers with access to nonproduction bonus benefits are available as part of the Employee Benefits in the United States publication, see www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2019/benefits_other.htm.

Insurance costs were $6.07 per employee hour worked, or 11.7 percent of total compensation. The largest component was health insurance at $5.92 or 11.5 percent of total compensation. Insurance was the largest benefit cost for sales and office occupations at $5.69 (15.9 percent of total compensation). (See tables
1 and 3.)

Retirement and savings benefit costs averaged $6.17 per hour worked (11.9 percent of total compensation). These costs include defined benefit plans ($5.74), and defined contribution plans ($0.43). (See tables 1 and 3.)

Legally required benefit costs averaged $2.85 per hour worked (5.5 percent of total compensation), including Social Security and Medicare ($2.22), state and federal unemployment insurance ($0.06), and workers’ compensation ($0.56). (See tables 1 and 3.)

• Technical note
• Table 1. By ownership
• Table 2. Civilian workers by occupational and industry group
• Table 3. State and local government workers by occupational and industry group
• Table 4. Private industry workers by occupational and industry group
• Table 5. Private industry workers by bargaining and work status
• Table 6. Private industry workers by establishment size and industry group
• Table 7. Private industry workers by census region and division
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