COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES: The official item in the National Income and Product Accounts maintained by the Bureau of Economics Analysis measuring wages earned by the household sector for supplying labor services. This is one of five official factor payments making up national income. The other four are net interest, rental income of persons, corporate profits, and proprietors' income. Compensation of employees is far and away the largest of the five factor payments, typically running about 70 percent of national income.Compensation of employees includes standard wages and salaries paid directly to employees, as well as assorted fringe benefits (health care, retirement, etc.) paid on behalf of employees to third parties. The official terms for these two components are: (1) wage and salary accruals and (2) supplements to wages and salaries. Wage and salary accruals, as might be expected is the larger of the two, coming in at around 80 percent of total compensation of employees, leaving supplements to wages and salaries at the remaining 20 percent. Compensation of employees includes more than just the typical wage payments that come to mind when the topic turns to compensating labor. This entry, of course, includes hourly wages paid to factory workers, clerical workers, retail sales clerks, farmhands, fast-food counter help, and other folks who clearly supply labor services to the production of GDP. But, this entry also includes monthly and annual wages to other folks who DO NOT immediately come to mind when the word labor is mentioned. Examples are the head of a Fortune 500 company, a professional athlete, and a popular motion picture actor. Their salaries might be measured in millions of dollars rather than thousands of dollars, but so long as they are being paid for using their physical and/or mental efforts in production, then their salaries are included in the compensation of employees entry. Check Out These Related Terms... | factor payments | net interest | rental income of persons | corporate profits | proprietors' income | gross domestic income | personal income | disposable income | net domestic product | Or For A Little Background... | national income | gross domestic product | gross domestic product, income | production | resource markets | National Income and Product Accounts | Bureau of Economic Analysis | National Bureau of Economic Research | And For Further Study... | personal income and national income | disposable income and personal income | gross domestic product, expenditures | gross domestic product, ins and outs | gross domestic product, welfare | gross national product | real gross domestic product | business cycles | circular flow | national income and gross domestic product | national income and net domestic product | Recommended Citation: COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: April 17, 2025]. |
