If there's anything good about Labor Day weekend being over, it's that we can all look forward to only four days the job. And that means the work week might actually just be the 40 hours it's supposed to be.

A report that Gallup released Friday showed the average time worked by full-time employees has ticked up to 46.7 hours a week, or nearly a full extra eight-hour day. Just 40 percent of Americans who work full time say they clock the standard 40 hours a week. Another 50 percent say they work more than that.



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While that 46.7-hour average doesn't represent a significant jump, it is still the highest it has been since 2001-2002, when the average was 46.9 hours. Gallup's data is based on its annual Work and Education Survey, which combines data from 2013 and 2014 and includes 1,271 full-time employed adults.



Copyright 2014 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. The content is used with permission; however, Gallup retains all rights of republication.

The work week is even longer for salaried workers (an average of 49 hours), likely because employers don't have to worry about paying them overtime. According to the Gallup poll, half of salaried full-time employees said they work 50 or more hours each week.

If there's any comfort in this, it's that Gallup reminds us the long hours don't necessarily mean people are unhappy in their jobs. The firm, which also does consulting on employee engagement, reports their research also shows that "highly engaged workers who log well over 40 hours will still have better overall well-being than actively disengaged workers who clock out at 40 hours."

Yet given how miserably few people like their jobs (Gallup's own data has found that only 13 percent of people actually enjoy going to work), that's not exactly encouraging.

Read also:

Don't like your job (or career)? You're not alone

Only 13 percent of people actually like going to work

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