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August 16, 2006

Non-Growth in Hours of Work

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released a report showing that while jobs have increased since the depths of the recession, the average work week has not recovered to the pre-recession level, meaning many folks may have a job but they aren't getting the same hours and pay as earlier.

This reflects one of my favorite measures of real job creation-- ignore the total number of jobs and instead look at the total number of hours of work created. The St. Louis Federal Reserve puts those numbers together in this nice graph which emphasizes that after a serious dip in hours of work in the economy, we are just barely above the pre-recession level of hours worked -- divided among a larger growing population.

Just more evidence of how truly anemic this recovery has been. And without any party, many economists are expecting the economy to take another dive soon.

Bush: Incompetent at War, Incompetent at Home.

Posted by Nathan at August 16, 2006 10:36 AM