Labor report: Washington worker comp costs among nation’s lowest

If you read the data and do the math, Washington is not really one of the worst places in America for businesses when it comes to workers compensation costs. It is actually one of the better places sitting as the state with the fifth lowest cost to companies.

So says the Washington State Labor Council in the latest installment of a public education effort entitled “Outside the Echo Chamber.”

It begins:

One of the most persistent myths about Washington state’s business climate is that our workers’ compensation costs are higher than in most other states. The fact that many employers and public policymakers believe this to be true is another indication of the power and resonance of the negative internal rhetoric about our competitiveness.

Read down a few grafs and you find the machinations behind the fifth place finish. It relies on an October 2008 report done in Oregon that ranked Washington at 38th place in terms of costs.

That ranking is based on the contributions by workers and employers, the labor group says. Subtract what employees pay into the program and what’s left jettisons Washington to the top of the rankings as a low-cost state for business.