Americans are now working FEWER hours each week than they did before the pandemic

Americans are inexplicably working an hour less each week than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to a new study.

Data from a November 2022 Labor Department survey found that the average American now works 36.9 hours. In January 2020, that number was 37.5 hours.

Research from a new scientific paper titled “Where are the missing workersexamines pre-pandemic work habits and what’s driving labor shortages across the country.

While the fear of COVID-19 and the protracted COVID was the alleged culprit behind the labor shortage, the reasoning behind the reduced hours is not so easy to explain.

“People working fewer hours cannot be explained by fear of COVID. You just wouldn’t go to work at all if it was fear of COVID,” said Katharine G. Abraham, the study’s author and former Labor Statistics Commissioner.

Data from a November 2022 Labor Department survey found that the average American now works 36.9 hours. In January 2020, that number was 37.5 hours

According to the research, Americans’ ‘shifting priorities’ may be the best explanation for the weekly change in workload.

“A re-evaluation of the balance between work and other activities may also be part of the explanation,” write Abraham and co-author Lea Rendell.

However, the re-evaluation has contributed to a continued lack of workers.

The newspaper states that some 2.4 million workers are still needed and that the problem in turn also affects inflation.

Speaking at a conference last week, Stephanie Aaronson, senior deputy director of the research and statistics division at the Fed, said she believes the change in hours directly affects labor supply.

The weekly change of hours is “a very important part of why labor supply is so low,” Aaronson said.

Professor Yongseok Shin of the University of Washington recently said that the change in weekly working hours can be attributed to three groups of people.

Those who have slowed down at work include educated youth, men, high earners and workaholics.

High earners reduced their average weekly hours by 1.5 hours, while workaholics dropped a whopping three hours from 55 to 52 from 2019 to 2022.

In addition, Shin said that people who work from home may start working fewer hours.

“No one will notice if you call it a day early on Friday,” Shin said.

According to the research, Americans’ ‘shifting priorities’ may be the best explanation for the weekly change in workload

“A re-evaluation of the balance between work and other activities may also be part of the explanation,” Katherine Abraham and co-author Lea Rendell wrote in their research paper.

These graphs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the difference in working hours between 2019, pre-pandemic and 2022

Caroline Hoxby, a Stanford University professor, has stated she believes the “flattening” could be US workers adopting a more European approach.

While for a long time COVID may have once been the cause of reduced work hours, Abraham and Rendell also found that no more than 10 percent of the decline can be attributed to COVID.

Another explanation for the decline is that Americans were on average known for working longer than other countries and that the decline is part of a leveling off.

Stanford University professor Caroline Hoxby has mention she believes the “flattening” could be US workers adopting a more European approach.

Abraham agreed, saying she saw these trends continuing.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this takes a relatively long time,” Abraham said.