[freedomcrusader]

But how are the hours worked counted?

If someone works 60 hours, but only 40 are counted, then ARCADIA's point holds.

If, on the other hand, all those hours are counted somehow (surveys or whatever), then you are correct.

[ARCADIA]

But how are the hours worked counted?

I suspect that most of this is people just looking at a financial statement. Company XYZ sold $100 Million in product last year and had an operating cost of $60 Million; If they can generate $110 million in revenue this year, while holding the operating costs at $60 million, they are said to have increased their productivity.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

These are national averages. There is no evidence that suddenly the Dept. of Labor has changed its methods for determining the number of hours worked, and sohehow has suddenly begun ignoring hours worked that were previously counted.