Istat: drop in hours worked is worth -1.6 million units

(ANSA) - ROME, JUNE 11 - The hours worked in the first three months of the year are falling. This is certified by Istat, which updates data on the quarter which includes March, the month hit in full by the Covid emergency. The reduction was 7.5% at a conjunctural level, which corresponds to a loss of over 1.6 million standard work units, a fictitious measure that compacts the hours worked in standard full-time positions ('full time equivalent'). The use of social shock absorbers, the measures taken to buffer the effects of the epidemic on the economy, however, made it possible to keep working positions and employment relationships alive, which marked a much lower decrease (-0.2%). Following the same trend as for the employed, in the quarter the drop was 73 thousand units. (HANDLE).