CorrelateAI › Pairs

US Annual Working Hours per Worker vs US R&D Expenditure

US Annual Working Hours per Worker and US R&D Expenditure correlate at r = -0.61 over 28 years (1996–2023), p = 6.1e-4. With the time trend removed, r = +0.41. Direction flips without the trend.

Verdict: Direction flips without the trend. The raw correlation is -0.61, but once each series' time trend is removed it becomes 0.41. The year-to-year movements run the opposite way to the long-run trends, so the headline number is misleading.

Pearson r
-0.61
p-value
6.1e-4
Years compared (n)
28 (1996–2023)
95% confidence interval
-0.80 to -0.30
Correlation with the time trend removed
+0.41

Sources

Related pairs

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