Comptroller John Liu waded into the public-employee compensation debate with a union-friendly report claiming that city workers make less than their private-sector counterparts — even when their better pensions and benefits are factored in.

Numbers crunched for Liu also showed that the city’s pension costs are roughly the same as that of a large corporation, and that the hue and cry over police officers and firefighters “spiking” their overtime before they quit to boost their retirement pay is overblown.