A new report on labour trends worldwide shows that Americans work the longest hours and are the most productive.

Author Lawrence Jeff Johnson: One can work less but still be competitive in global markets

The report published by the Geneva based International Labour Organisation (ILO) examines key indicators of the labour market, including labour productivity, labour costs and hours worked.

US workers are bucking worldwide trends. While the rest of the industrialised world is working fewer hours, Americans are working longer than ever before.

Europeans working less

According to the ILO report, on average a US worker clocked up nearly 2,000 hours in 1997, 83 more than in 1980.

One of the report's authors, Lawrence Jeff Johnson, says: "We're seeing increased hours worked while we're seeing the highest level of productivity per hour worked in the US.

"The US is running counter to the trend throughout the rest of the world where we're seeing hours of work on average fall throughout the world especially within Europe and the United Kingdom."

Workers burning out

The US is still leading the way in the productivity race.

But the report's findings show that there is no direct link between productivity and the number of hours worked.

Europeans are consistently working less, yet they are registering faster productivity gains.

Even France, which has introduced a radical 35-hour week, has seen a surge in labour productivity growth.