Australia Yearbook - 2009-10

8.17 EMPLOYED PERSONS, Average weekly hours worked
hours
40
35
30
Jun
2005
Jun
2006
Jun
2007
Actual hours in main job
Actual hours in all jobs
Usual hours in all jobs
Jun
2008
Jun
2009
25
20
Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed – Electronic Delivery (6291.0.55.001).
8.18 EMPLOYED PERSONS(a), Actual hours worked in all jobs—June 2009
%
Males
40
Females
30
20
10
0
0 1–15 16–34 35–44 45 and over
hours
(a) Includes employed persons who were away from work during the survey reference week.
Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed – Electronic Delivery (6291.0.55.001).
(e.g. workplace-related influences such as
seasonal employment), and absences from work
due to public holidays, sickness, irregular shifts,
etc. Large movements occur around the months
of January, April and October. The average weekly
hours worked in main job series closely follows
the average weekly hours worked in all job series,
but at a slightly lower level. This indicates that the
number of hours worked in second and
subsequent jobs, averaged across all employed
people, is relatively small.
Average weekly hours usually worked in all jobs
exhibits much lower levels of variability
(graph 8.17). This is because the usual hours
worked series is not affected by seasonal factors
and absences from work that lead to fluctuations
in the actual hours worked series.
In June 2009, more than a third (34%) of
employed men worked between 35 and 44 hours
per week, and a further 28% worked 45 hours or
more per week (graph 8.18). Women were most
likely to have worked between 16 and 34 hours
per week (38%), or between 35 and 44 hours
(26%). Women who worked 45 hours or more
per week made up 11% of all employed women.
Average weekly hours actually worked by full-time
employed people rose from 39.7 hours in
1988–89 to a peak of 41.4 hours in 1999–2000, an
increase of 4% (graph 8.19). In 2008–09, full-time
employed people worked an average of
39.8 hours per week, a slight decrease from 40.3
hours per week recorded in 2007–08. Full-time
employed men worked an average of 41.1 hours
per week in 2008–09 while full-time employed
244 Year Book Australia 2009–10