A 23-page U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report found that state and local governments spent an average of $39.83 per hour for total employee compensation during September 2009. Twenty-six dollars twenty-three cents of that total was wages and salaries. The remaining $13.60 went toward benefits.
Private-industry workers’ costs averaged only $27.49 per hour. Wages and salaries were $19.45 per hour, benefits $8.05 per hour.
The 23-page Bureau of Labor Statistics report is available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf.