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Utahns work fewer hours per week than people in any other state, study finds

(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)

Utahns who feel overworked may be surprised by this statistic: Workers in the Beehive State, on average, work fewer hours than workers in any other state.

That’s the finding of a study of U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday by the online-services company Business.org, which found Utah employees work an average of 37.3 hours per week.

The study crunched data gathered from workers ages 16 to 64 who have been in the workforce over the past 12 months. Full-time and part-time work were included.

Men in Utah work an average of 40.6 hours per week, while women work an average of 33.2 hours a week. The disparity of 7.4 hours per week was the second-highest among the states, with only North Dakota having a bigger gap.

The gap can be attributed, the study found, to the fact that roughly 4 out of every 5 Utah male workers are working full time, while about 3 of 5 female workers are.

Shea Drake, a spokesperson for Business.org, said the statistics for Utah may be seen as a positive. “Less time at work means more time for family, and given the cultural emphasis on family in the state, this could be seen as a point of pride,” Drake said in an email.

The state with the highest level of hours worked was Alaska, at 41.6 hours per week. Alaska and other states in the top seven — including North Dakota, Texas, South Dakota, Louisiana and Oklahoma — are among the nation’s top crude-oil producers, suggesting oil workers labor longer than other professions.

Nationwide, the study suggests, male workers should take a hint from their female counterparts.

“It could also be argued that women are simply working smarter, not longer, than their male counterparts and that everybody should establish a work-life balance and take advantage of their vacation days as often as possible,” the study said. “Burnout is no badge of honor.”