Average Weekly Hours. This index determines the status of industrial production and personal income. It is considered to be an important indicator of labor market conditions: the growth of the working week at the early stage of the business cycle may be a signal that employers are prepared to raise wages while at the end of the growth cycle length of the workweek may indicate that employers have difficulty in finding skilled workers.

The indicator shows the average weekly working hours during the month. It is expressed in terms of absolute value and as an index relative to the previous period and has no impact on the market. This indicator is used for a long-term analysis of the employment.

It is a good indicator of the labor market at different stages of economic cycle. It is believed to be one of the determinative indicators for such indicators as “Industrial production” and “Personal income”, the values of which are published later.

Significance: Low

Published: 8.30 (EST), the first Friday of each month

Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics

Web: www.stats.bls.gov