US Annual Working Hours per Worker vs US Federal Debt Outstanding

US Annual Working Hours per Worker and US Federal Debt Outstanding correlate at r = -0.35 over 81 years (1870–2023), p = 0.0014. With the time trend removed, r = +0.65. Direction flips without the trend.

Verdict: Direction flips without the trend. The raw correlation is -0.35, but once each series' time trend is removed it becomes 0.65. The year-to-year movements run the opposite way to the long-run trends, so the headline number is misleading.

Pearson r: -0.35
p-value: 0.0014
Years compared (n): 81 (1870–2023)
95% confidence interval: -0.53 to -0.14
Correlation with the time trend removed: +0.65

Sources

US Annual Working Hours per Worker (hours): Our World in Data. US Annual Working Hours per Worker (Our World in Data: Working hours per worker).
US Federal Debt Outstanding (USD): U.S. Treasury. Total US federal debt outstanding at the end of each fiscal year (U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data).

Related pairs

US Renewable Energy Share vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.99)
US Wind Power Generation vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.99)
US Federal Debt Outstanding vs US GDP (current US$) (r = +0.97)
US Federal Debt Outstanding vs US GDP per Capita (r = +0.95)
Atmospheric Methane (global) vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.95)
US Natural Gas Consumption vs US Federal Debt Outstanding (r = +0.94)

Correlation does not imply causation. How the verdict is worked out.