It's Not Just Federal Workers

Last Friday I posted If You Want More of Something, Subsidize It about a report that stated that most federal government employees make more than their private-sector counterparts, not including the average fourfold higher benefit package that federal workers receive. Now a report has come out that state and local government employees are generally better off than private sector workers:

Govt. workers feel no economic pain

The recession and the ongoing jobless recovery devastated much of the private-sector work force last year, sending unemployment soaring, but government workers emerged essentially unscathed, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the compensation for state and local government employees continued to easily outdistance the wages and benefits for workers in private business, a separate Labor Department report showed.

Private-industry employers spent an average of $27.42 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December, while total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.60 per hour.

The average government wage and salary per hour of $26.11 was 35 percent higher than the average wage and salary of $19.41 per hour in the private sector. But the percentage difference in benefits was much higher. Benefits for state and local workers averaged $13.49 per hour, nearly 70 percent higher than the $8 per hour in benefits paid by private businesses.

RTWT, particularly where the topic of retirement benefits are concerned. Many state, county, and municipal governments are in deep trouble because of the retirement benefits they've promised their workers, and the fact that the money to pay those benefits just doesn't exist.