October 7, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Time spent at work in 2004

Employed persons worked 7.6 hours on average on the days that they worked in 2004. They also worked longer hours on weekdays than on weekend days – 7.9 versus 5.8 hours.

[Chart data—TXT]

Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days. About 83 percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday, compared with 33 percent on an average weekend day.

On the days both worked, employed men worked about an hour more than employed women. The difference partly reflects women’s greater likelihood of working part time. However, even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hour or more per week), men worked slightly longer than women – 8.3 versus 7.8 hours.

The American Time Use Survey is the source of these data on time use. You can find out more about time spent at work by various segments of the population in American Time Use Survey — 2004 (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-1766.

 

Related TED articles:

• Leisure activities in 2004
• The average day in 2004