Good Producing Workweek Still Weak

The average weekly hours worked by Oregon's manufacturing production workers has rebounded considerably since early 2009. At 38.5 hours per week in March 2010, the reading was slightly below the typical pre-recession level of 39 to 40 hours per week. However, the measure did rebound considerably from March 2009 (35.5 hours) through November 2009 (38.9 hours).

Overall, this points to a restrained workweek, indicating that the manufacturing labor market is not being used to its full extent. Further, due to the sub-normal average workweek, any increase in production demand may not be immediately met with a commensurate increase in workers hired.

There is more information in the full article, written by Economist David Cooke (David.C.Cooke@state.or.us 503-947-1272).