Benefits August 25, 2009

Gap between Federal and Private Worker Pay Growing

August 25, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, an organization within the Department of Commerce, the average federal employee now makes $79,197, not including benefits.
Reported by

When benefits are added in, the average federal employee compensation was $119,982 based on 2008 figures.

In an analysis, Chris Edwards, director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, said the average wage for 1.9 million federal civilian workers compares to an average $49,935 for the nation’s 108 million private sector workers (measured in full-time equivalents) or $59,909 when benefits are added in.

According to the analysis, in 2000, the average compensation including wages and benefits of federal workers was 66% higher than the average compensation in the U.S. private sector ($76,187 vs. $45,772). The new data shows that average federal compensation is now more than 200% greater than the average in the private sector.

More on Edwards’ analysis is here .

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