The pandemic reduced employment, but what about the amount of hours those of us who have jobs actually work? Data based on employees on payroll suggests we are mostly working the same amount of hours as we did before the pandemic. But there is some variation across industries. Hours for retail and hospitality workers decreased, while health care and education hours increased. Manufacturing is also down. However, since unemployment is up, overall we are working fewer hours. This data also does not capture contingent or contract workers, who may have had hours cut. But if you do have a job, pandemic or not, you are probably working about as hard as you did last year.
Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter here.
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