Hours worked per worker per year in the United States, 1870–2023

Name: Hours worked per worker per year in the United States, 1870–2023
Creator: Unlabeled
License: CC-BY 4.0

Hours worked per US worker fell from 3,096 a year in 1870 to 1,789 in 2023, 42% fewer. Before 1950 the data cover only full-time nonfarm production workers, so the periods aren't directly comparable.

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y ↑: Working time (hours per year)
x →: Year

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The data: 40 points

Year	Working time (hours per year)
1870	3096
1890	2983
1913	2900
1938	1756
1951	2064
1953	2054
1954	2031
1956	2023
1958	1961
1961	1954
1962	1974
1964	1972
1966	2001
1969	1975
1971	1915
1973	1910
1975	1851
1978	1854
1979	1856
1982	1810
1984	1836
1986	1821
1988	1839
1989	1852
1992	1816
1994	1850
1995	1860
1998	1883
2000	1888
2003	1833
2005	1829
2007	1829
2009	1765
2011	1783
2012	1785
2015	1809
2017	1796
2018	1804
2020	1778
2023	1789

Source: Feenstra et al. – Penn World Table (2025); Huberman and Minns (2005), with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC-BY 4.0
Read: 2026-11-06
Drawn: 40 points as the puzzle showed them · line

Ran in puzzle #43 on November 8, 2026. Play it

Hours worked per worker per year in the United States, 1870–2023

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