Employees are actually working fewer hours as hiring booms, which could be a sign of incoming layoffs—and a possible recession. The current average number of hours worked a week by privatesector employees in jobs like construction, retail and manufacturing have also dropped below the 2019 average.

WSJ explains why economists look at the change in the number of hours people work and why this slowdown could be different as a result of the pandemic.

0:00 Hours worked
0:40 Why hours worked is a recession indicator
1:35 Biggest concerns right now
3:13 Today’s data
4:10 What’s next?

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