Compensation Costs Rose Just 3 Percent in 2007
A Feb. 1 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics should be comforting to U.S. employers: It shows overall compensation costs for private-industry workers rose by only 3.0 percent in calendar year 2007. BLS showed a chart that showed five years' worth of movement by benefit costs, compensation, and wages and salaries -- benefit costs grew at a slower rate by the end of 2007 than they had in any point in the past five years.
The data are derived from the BLS Compensation Cost Trends program. Compensation costs (also known as employment costs) include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.