The WSJ noted the 0.1 increase in the length of the average workweek last month and highlighted the 0.3 increase in hours worked in manufacturing. In doing so, they missed much of what happened in July. Typically, the auto industry shuts down many of its factories in July to retool for the new model year. This leads to a large drop in hours and employment. Since the data are seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics corrects for the normal July layoffs so it doesn't appear that the auto industry is going into a slump every July. This year, there were few, if any, layoffs associated with retooling, since many factories had already been shut. Nonetheless, the seasonal adjustment pushed up reported hours and employment in July for the auto sector. As a result, the seasonally adjusted workweek in the auto sector increased by 1.6 hours in July and added approximately 0.1 hours to the overall average for manufacturing. While there probably was some real boost to manufacturing hours in July, the picture is certainly less robust than implied by the WSJ article. For example, overtime hours in non-durable manufacturing actually fell by 0.1 hours last month.
--Dean Baker