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Average Workweek in the United States

Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls, 1947 - 2015 (payroll series) - below

year	ave. weekly hours	year	ave. weekly hours	year	ave. weekly hours	year	ave. weekly hours

1947	40.3	1967	38.0	1987	34.8	2007	34.4
1948	40.0	1968	37.8	1988		2008	34.3
1949	39.4	1969	37.7	1989		2009	33.9
1950	39.8	1970	37.1	1990	34.3	2010	34.1
1951	39.9	1971	36.9	1991	34.1	2011	34.3
1952	39.9	1972	37.0	1992	34.2	2012	34.4
1953	39.6	1973	36.9	1993	34.3	2013	34.4
1954	39.1	1974	36.5	1994	34.5	2014	34.5
1955	39.6	1975	36.1	1995	34.3	2015	34.5
1956	39.3	1976	36.1	1996	34.3
1957	38.8	1977	36.0	1997	34.5
1958	38.5	1978	35.8	1998	34.5
1959	39.0	1979	35.7	1999	34.3
1960	38.6	1980	35.3	2000	34.3
1961	38.6	1981	35.2	2001	34.0
1962	38.7	1982	34.8	2002	33.9
1963	38.8	1983	35.0	2003	33.7
1964	38.7	1984	35.2	2004	33.7
1965	38.8	1985	34.9	2005	33.8
1966	38.6	1986	34.8	2006	33.9

Mean hours worked per week by all persons at work, 1947 - 2015 (household series) - below

year	ave. weekly hours	year	ave. weekly hours	year	ave. weekly hours	year	ave. weekly hours

1947	43.5	1965	40.5	1983	38.3	2001	-
1948	42.8	1966	40.4	1984	38.8	2002	39.2
1949	42.1	1967	40.4	1985	39.0	2003	39.0
1950	41.7	1968	40.1	1986	39.1	2004	39.0
1951	42.2	1969	39.9	1987	39.0	2005	39.2
1952	42.4	1970	39.1	1988	39.2	2006	39.2
1953	41.9	1971	39.3	1989		2007	39.2
1954	40.9	1972	39.4	1990		2008	38.9
1955	41.6	1973	39.3	1991		2009	37.9
1956	41.5	1974	39.0	1992		2010	38.2
1957	41.0	1975	38.7	1993		2011	38.3
1958	40.6	1976	38.7	1994		2012	38.5
1959	40.5	1977	38.8	1995	39.3	2013	38.6
1960	40.5	1978	39.0	1996	39.3	2014	38.6
1961	40.5	1979	38.9	1997	39.5	2015	38.6
1962	40.5	1980	38.5	1998	39.3
1963	40.4	1981	38.1	1999	39.6
1964	40.0	1982	38.0	2000	-

Notes: The "payroll series" consists of hours information collected from employers. The "household series" consists of hours information collected from individual workers in Census surveys. Where a worker holds more than one job, the payroll series would report hours from each job separately. The household series would combine the hours from all jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, compiles and reports the information. The workweek decline in the payroll series reflects the increasing proportion of part-time retail workers in the total. It has been calculated that 1.39 of the hours decline between 1964 and 1987 is due to this factor. (Nonfinancial Economics, p. 39) According to the household series, the average workweek of persons who usually worked full time was 42.8 hours in 2007; 42.6 hours in 2008; and 41.9 hours in 2009.

Persons at work in all industries in the United States by level of hours worked, selected years 1995 to 2015


level of weekly hours	no. workers - 1995	percent - 1995	no. workers - 2005	percent - 2005	no. workers - 2010	percent - 2010	no. workers - 2015	percent - 2015

total 16 & over	119,318	100.0%	136,218	100.0%	134,004	100.0%	143,767	100.0%

1-4 hours	1,297	1.1%	1,385	1.0%	1,559	1.2%	1,424	1.0%
5-14 hours	4,943	4.1%	4,990	3.7%	5,488	4.1%	5,219	3.6%
15-29 hours	15,120	12.7%	16,008	11.8%	17,272	12.9%	17,271	12.0%
30-34 hours	9,304	7.8%	9,885	7.3%	10,778	8.0%	12,244	8.5%
total - up to 35 hours	30,664	25.7%	32,268	23.7%	35,097	26.2%	36,158	25.2%

35-39 hours	8,873	7.4%	9,371	6.9%	9,695	7.2%	9,604	6.7%
40 hours	42,228	35.4%	56,179	41.2%	56,478	42.1%	61,999	43.1%
41-48 hours	13,958	11.7%	13,609	10.0%	11,370	8.5%	12,461	8.7%
49-59 hours	13,591	11.4%	14,569	10.7%	12,530	9.4%	14,101	9.8%
60 hours & over	10,094	8.5%	10,222	7.5%	8,834	6.6%	9,444	6.6%

total - 35 hours and over	88,654	74.3%	103,950	76.3%	98,907	73.8%	107,609	74.8%

ave. hours total	39.3 hours		39.3 hours		38.2 hours		38.6 hours
ave. hours - usually work full time	43.4 hours		43.4 hours		42.2 hours		42.4 hours

Notes: These numbers are posted on line at several sites including www.bls.gov/cps/cps_aa2010.htm. The statistics are compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. See Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey - annual averages (for certain years) - household data - tables from Employment and Earnings.

Estimated Gains in Paid Leisure by Full-time Workers in the United States, 1940 to 1979

Additional Hours of Paid Leisure per Year

Source	Period	Shorter	Longer	More	Total
		Workweek	Vacations	Holidays

Hedges & Taylor	1968 - 1979	25	4	10	39
Moore & Hedges	1960 - 1969	30	15	4	49
Henle	1940 - 1960	75	48	32	155

total	1940 - 1979	130	67	46	243

Notes: These estimates of hours reductions, prepared by economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, appeared in the March 1962, February 1971, and March 1980 issues of Monthly Labor Review. Notice that gains in paid leisure were greater in the early period than since 1960. In 1994, a survey found that 97.0% of large companies offered paid vacations to employees, 91.0% offered paid holidays, and 56.5% offered employee pensions. The same survey found that 86.0% of small companies offered paid vacations, 80.0% offered paid holidays, and only 9.0% had pension plans.

Estimated Reductions in the Workweek in Earlier Periods of U.S. History

Ewan Clague, National Bureau of Economic Research

year	estimated workweek

	Ewan Clague	N.B.E.R.

1850	69.8
1860	68.0
1870	65.4
1880	64.0
1890	61.9	53.7
1900	60.2	53.2
1910	55.1	52.1
1920	49.7	49.8
1930	45.9	47.7
1940	44.0	43.9
1950	42.5	41.2
1960	40.8

Paul H. Douglas, 1890 to 1926

year	average workweek	real hourly wages	year	average workweek	real hourly wages

1890	58.4		1910	54.6	$.222
1891	58.2		1911	54.4	$.219
1892	58.2		1912	54.2	$.226
1893	58.2		1913	53.8	$.226
1894	57.8		1914	53.5	$.226
1895	58.1		1915	53.5	$.232
1896	57.9		1916	53.3	$.232
1897	57.7		1917	53.0	$.219
1898	57.6		1918	52.2	$.222
1899	57.5		1919	51.3	$.228
1900	57.3	$.211	1920	50.4	$.236
1901	56.8	$.213	1921	50.3	$.255
1902	56.3	$.215	1922	50.5	$.266
1903	55.9	$.215	1923	50.4	$.283
1904	55.7	$.219	1924	50.0	$.291
1905	55.7	$.224	1925	49.9	$.291
1906	55.3	$.226	1926	49.8	$.295
1907	55.3	$.222
1908	54.9	$.228
1909	54.6	$.230

Notes: Ewan Clague, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, presented testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on Labor on H.R. 355, H.R. 3102, and H.R. 3320. Monthly Labor Review, February 1971, p. 5. Comparison of trends in average workweek and hourly wages from Paul H. Douglas, "Real Wages in the United States, 1890-1926", Houghton Mifflin, 1930.

Average Hours Spent per Day in Various Activities, 2005

hours per day, total population				hours per day, persons reporting the activity in time diary

activity	both sexes	men	women	both sexes	men	women

all activities	24.00	24.00	24.00

sleeping	8.63	8.54	8.70	8.63	8.55	8.71
other personal care	0.80	0.68	0.92	0.80	0.67	0.91
eating & drinking	1.24	1.30	1.19	1.28	1.33	1.23
household chores	1.82	1.35	2.27	2.45	2.09	2.70
shopping	0.80	0.63	0.96	1.74	1.57	1.87
caring for others	0.77	0.55	0.97	3.74	3.41	3.94
paid work	3.69	4.44	3.00	8.01	8.45	7.47
school activities	0.45	0.47	0.43	5.22	5.62	4.87
community activities	0.31	0.27	0.35	2.31	2.30	2.33
watching television	2.58	2.80	2.37	3.23	3.47	3.00
other leisure	1.04	1.10	0.98	3.53	3.87	3.12
other	0.35	0.28	0.41	2.10	2.08	2.11

Notes: From Table 12-1, Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics (Bernan Press), 2007, p. 446 The Bureau of Labor Statistics began surveying individuals on use of their personal time in 2003. The American Time Use Survey covered approximately 13,000 persons in 2005. Participants keep "time diaries" on designated days.

Persons at work 1-34 hours in nonagricultural industries by reason for working less than 35 hours, 1995 - 2015

year	2015	2013	2010	2008	2005	2002	1999	1995

total at work 1-34 hours (000)	36,158	33,813	35,097	33,384	32,268	31,174	30,913	30,664

Part time for economic reasons	6,371	7,935	8,879	5,875	4,350	4,213	3,357	4,473

slack work or business conditions	3,762	5,002	6,174	4,169	2,684	2,788	1,968	2,471
could only find part-time work	2,266	2,600	2,375	1,389	1,341	1,124	1,079	1,702
seasonal work	220	234	207	190	188	165	147	120
job started or ended during week	123	99	118	127	137	135	162	180

Part time for non-economic reasons	29787	25,878	26,223	27,509	27,918	26,961	27,556	26,191

child-care problems	980	859	800	753	791	777	856	774
other family or personal obligations	4,831	4,603	4,634	5,425	5,558	5,766	5,629	5,585
health or medical limitations	907	824	737	834	806	746	712	774
in school or training	5,991	5,648	5,470	6,057	6,237	6,177	6,463	5,585
retired or Social Security limit on earnings	2,423	2,356	2,184	2,185	2,095	1,911	1,984	1,848
vacation or personal day	3,535	3,306	3,395	3,431	3,431	3,452	3,239	3,303
holiday, legal or religious	2,872	272	854	844	901	597	960	1,005
weather-related curtailment	382	395	656	454	513	514	824	439
all other reasons	7,865	7,615	7,493	7,525	7,588	7,022	6,884	6,551

average hours, economic reasons	23.0	22.9	22.5	22.9	23.0	23.0	23.1	22.9
average hours, non-economic reasons	22.1	21.3	21.3	21.4	2.5	21.4	21.5	21.4

Output, Employment, Productivity, and Working Hours in the U.S. Economy

		Gross National Product, 1947-1977: Input (billions of 1958 dollars)

year	annual hours per worker	private employment (1)	output per man-hour	annual output (2)	conversion factor	GNP in 1958 dollars

1947	2,205	51,564	0.508	57,751	5.37	$309.9

1950	2,140	52,892	0.587	66,429	5.35	$355.3
1952	2,141	53,641	0.632	72,569	5.44	$395.1
1955	2,108	55,256	0.709	82,572	5.30	$438.0
1957	2,062	56,455	0.728	84,747	5.34	$452.5

1960	2,043	57,425	0.782	91,762	5.31	$487.7
1962	2,034	57,812	0.845	99,373	5.33	$529.8
1965	2,035	61,014	0.936	116,194	5.32	$617.8
1967	2,006	62,974	1.000	126,302	5.34	$675.2

1970	1,965	65,792	1.051	135,874	5.31	$722.5
1972	1,936	68,362	1.132	149,819	5.29	$792.5
1975	1,891	70,063	1.140	151,038	5.30	$800.1
1977	1,867	75,356	1.218	171,360	5.29	$907.3

	(1) thousands of workers			(2) millions of man-hours

Figure 2-13, A Shorter Workweek in the 1980s by William McGaughey, Thistlerose Publications, 1981, page 61. The numbers in the columns are multiplied to produce GNP. Sources: "Handbook of Labor Statistics 1975", p.187, Table 85 (productivity); p .446, Table 179 (GNP); Tables 1 and 39 (nongovernmental employment). Productivity index is based upon labor force data for the total private economy. Average hours have been calculated from the index, using the 1970 hours as a base. See Monthly Labor Review, Feb. 1971, pp. 5-6. The conversion factor is plugged from the other numbers for each year. The figures for 1975 and 1977 are derived from comparable tables in "Handbook of Labor Statistics 1978"

		Productivity index 1910 to 1975 and 1970 to 2011
	productivity			productivity		productivity
year	index		year	index	year	index

1910	100.0		1970	100.00	1990	138.58
1915	104.9		1971	103.93	1991	140.71
1920	113.3		1972	107.44	1992	146.34
1925	135.5		1973	110.82	1993	147.15
1930	135.6		1974	109.04	1994	148.66
1932	133.0		1975	112.04	1995	149.27
1935	152.3		1976	115.78	1996	153.12
1937	161.4		1977	117.59	1997	155.47
1940	179.0		1978	119.13	1998	160.03
1942	188.8		1979	118.65	1999	165.35
1945	210.7		1980	118.34	2000	170.96
1947	199.7		1981	120.00	2001	175.96
1950	232.5		1982	118.73	2002	183.98
1952	240.1		1983	123.95	2003	190.76
1955	269.9		1984	126.44	2004	195.81
1957	281.2		1985	128.50	2005	199.02
1960	304.6		1986	132.46	2006	200.80
1962	330.0		1987	132.85	2007	203.90
1965	369.4		1988	135.05	2008	205.20
1967	390.0		1989	136.08	2009	210.01
1970	407.6				2010	218.44
1972	432.9				2011	219.42
1975	436.1

Note: The productivity figures for 1910 to 1947 are based upon estimates of John W. Kendrick, "National Productivity and its long-term projection", in "Studies in Income and Wealth", Vol. 16, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1954. From 1975, the productivity figures are for "private business sector"; prior to 1975, for "total private economy". The statistics for 1970 to 2011 in the right-hand columns are found in Updated charts and data associated with the paper “The compensation-productivity gap: a visual essay,” by Susan Fleck, John Glaser, and Shawn Sprague. Gap.update.2012.lpc.tables.htm

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