Apparently word has not gotten out to the WSJ. An article discussing job loss and the prospect of a jobless recovery never noted the issue. In fact, those of us with access to the secret data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (i.e. Internet users), know that average weekly hours have fallen by 2.4 percent since the beginning of the downturn. This is the equivalent of another 3.3 million jobs lost. This decline has been especially pronounced in manufacturing where hours worked have declined by an average of 4.1 percent. This decline is important, because when employers first start to see additional demand in an upturn, they will more likely increase the hours worked by the existing workforce than add new workers. This is another reason why we may expect to see the economy grow for quite a while before it adds a significant number of jobs.
--Dean Baker
