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Absences from Work and Hours Worked

LFS estimates were updated on 22nd Feb 2024 to incorporate updated population estimates for the period 2016 Q3 to 2023 Q3, based on the results of Census 2022. LFS results are updated in this way following each Census of Population. For further information see Background Notes.
The data in this publication does not reflect these updates. Please refer to the relevant tables on LFS Px-stat for updated LFS estimates.

Absences from Work and Hours Worked

There were 30,100 fewer absences recorded in the reference week for Q3 2022 compared with a year earlier

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Absences from Work and Hours Worked Totals

There were 2,554,300 persons aged 15-89 years in employment in Q3 2022. Of those who were in employment, an estimated 273,100 (10.7%) were absent from work during the reference week (i.e. temporarily absent from work for reasons such as holidays, sick leave or maternity leave). This compares with 303,200 (12.3%) 12 months earlier.

Overall employment was up compared to Q3 2021, while the number of absences from work during the reference week decreased. This resulted in the number of employed persons who were at work during the reference week increasing by 5.2% (+113,200) over the year. The estimated total number of hours worked per week in Q3 2022 stood at 80.3 million hours, up by 3.2 million hours or 4.2% on Q3 2021, and 7.6 million hours (10.5%) on Q3 2020. See Table 6.1. 

 

Figure 6.1 Total number of hours actually worked per week, Quarter 3 1998 to Quarter 3 2022
Table 6.1 Number of persons 15-89 years in employment (ILO), number of persons absent from work during the reference week and Actual Hours worked per week (in millions), Quarter 3 2020 to Quarter 3 2022

Absences from work by Economic sector

The rate of absences from work during the reference week varied across different industrial (NACE) sectors in the year to Q3 2022 – notable changes were seen in:

  • The Industry sector where the rate of absence was 7.7% in Q3 2022, down from 10.5% in Q3 2021
  • The Education sector which saw the highest rate of absence at 31.2%, down from 33.7% in Q3 2021
  • The Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security sector where the absence rate was up to 9.9% from 8.6% a year earlier
  • The Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector had the lowest rate of absence, 3.3% in Q3 2022, slightly up from the 3.1% observed in Q3 2021 See Table 6.2
Q3 2020Q3 2021Q3 2022
Agriculture, forestry and fishing2.238046795523913.084112149532713.276955602537
Industry7.3268651722984310.48518397915997.74818401937046
Construction6.432311144353038.270676691729326.78362573099415
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles6.483625537545488.783783783783788.78528385664446
Transportation and storage 18.281718281718312.69549218031289.86175115207373
Accommodation and food service activities15.96209912536449.84719864176578.58823529411765
Information and communication5.923616523772418.961303462321797.27272727272727
Financial, insurance and real estate activities7.2123176661264213.6330674401749.96860282574568
Professional, scientific and technical activities10.59743954480811.21892055791398.87145443572722
Administrative and support service activities9.554831704668848.923375363724547.30387736699729
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security7.221750212404428.615136876006449.90922844175492
Education35.870755750273833.653384541526631.2166747455162
Human health and social work activities12.569444444444414.262402088772812.8342245989305
Other activities (Cultural & Recreation)10.582524271844710.20408163265319.60207612456747
All Economic Sectors11.2812.269342829394610.6917746545042
Table 6.2 Absences from work in the reference week as a percentage of the numbers employed by Economic Sector, Quarter 3 2020 to Quarter 3 2022

Total Actual Hours Worked by Economic sector

The large year-on-year differences in hours worked observed in some NACE sectors over recent quarters are less evident in Q3 2022. Of note were:

  • The Accommodation & Food Service Activities sector where the number of hours worked per week was 4.8 million in Q3 2022, down from 4.9 million in Q3 2021 - 3.7 million hours were worked in Q3 2020
  • The Construction sector where the number of hours worked per week in Q3 2022 increased to 6.4 million from 5.4 million in Q3 2021 and 5.0 million in Q3 2020
  • The Human Health & Social Work Activities sector, where the number of hours worked per week was 9.6 million in Q3 2022, compared to 8.8 million in Q3 2021 and 8.5 million in Q3 2020
  • The Information & Communication sector, where the number of hours worked per week was 5.6 million in Q3 2022 having been 5.1 million in Q3 2021 and 4.7 million in Q3 2020 See Table 6.3 
Q3 2020Q3 2021Q3 2022
Agriculture, forestry and fishing4.64.74.2
Industry10.810.611.7
Construction55.46.4
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles9.79.29.4
Transportation and storage 3.23.53.6
Accommodation and food service activities3.74.94.8
Information and communication4.75.15.6
Financial, insurance and real estate activities4.34.44.3
Professional, scientific and technical activities4.75.45.4
Administrative and support service activities2.93.23.4
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security4.14.24.3
Education3.54.14.1
Human health and social work activities8.58.89.6
Other NACE activities2.83.33.2
Table 6.3 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 3 2020 to Quarter 3 2022