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4-2321 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY Work Projects Administration For Release Wednesday, August 12, 1942 MA.N-H0URS JUT1P AS AVERAGE WORK-WEEK INCREASES ONE HOUR IN YE.\R The average work-week of American •twrke rs increased one hour during the last year, and t his rise has accounted for about one-fourth of the total increase in man- hours, according to a special WPA research study . . Releas~d today by Brigadier General Philip B. Fleming, Federal Works Administrator and Acting Commissioner of Work Projects, the report states that between June, 1941, and this June, employment increased by 3, 100, 000 persons, accounting for three-fourths of the rise in man- hours . The number of workers employed 40 hours or more a week rose by 3, 600, 000, a~d the number of persons working less than 40 hours a week declined by 500,000 . Including both agricultural ~nd non-agricultural workers, th e average weekly hours of work rose from 45 . 7 last June to 46.7 this June . Nearly 44,000, 000 of the 53,300, 000 employed persons in June were working 40 hours or more a week . The study was made by the WPA Division of Research and Statistics in connection with its regular tlonthly Report of Employment and Unemployment , for which representative areas are scientifically sampled . "Tho nation ' s manpower is being utilized more effectively in the war production program not only through tho hiring of millions of additional persons , but also through putting more employed workers on full-time or overtime schedules ," the report says . "The fact that over one- sixth of all employed persons in June , 1942, worked less than 40 hours a week suggests a considerable degree of ill1used capacity in tho labor force now employed . It must be remembe r ed, however, that in many jobs outside of war lines only part-time workers aro no ,Jdcd, and many workers have domestic or other responsibilitirJs that would lwnp thorn out of tho labor market entirely if they could not find part-time jobs . 11 Th0 continued employment of large numbers of part-time workers thus may be one aspect of the fuller utilization of our labor r ese rves , just as is the current trend toward a longer work weak and the drawing in of new workers to the labor force . " Farmers a~d farm workers, who ordinarily work long hours , relied t o a considorablo extent on even longer hours to increase production, the study found . Tho average we .Jkly hours of work went up 1.8, from 55. h t o 57 . 2, in the one- year period. Agricultural employment , meanwhile , rose by only 600, 000 . Digitized by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ( over) Original-from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2321 - 2 - A longer work-week was of relatively less importance in the readjustment of non- agricultural employment. While the number of employed persons ontside of agriculture was increasing by 2, ,00,000, the average number of hours worked per week was only eight- tenths of an hour greater in June , 191-1-2 , than in Jun8 , 1941. In non- agricultural pursuits employment of less than 40 h'.)urs a week declined by onlY. 100,000, but employment of 40 and more hours advanced by 2, 600,000 with the hiring of new workers for full - time or over-time jobs , principally in the war production industries. "One of the most outstanding developments in agricultural employment over the past year is the increase of 1.,100,000 in the number of persons working 60 . or more hours a week, n the report states. "During the same period, the number employed less than 40 hours a week in agriculture has declined by 400, 000 . "This undoubtedly indicates that man~r farm operators , by working longer hours themselves , are making up fer the loss of considerable numbers of experienced farm workers who have rrdgrated to war production centers or entered the armed forces . Moreover , in the case of the supplemGntary agricultural labor supply - farm women and children, together with students and other persons from nearr;,y towns - a much larger proportion is being utilized on a full - time basis this summer." C.0::00 Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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