Over these same two periods US working-age population growth was 1.1% and 1.3% respectively. 5  Growth in total hours worked accelerated in the euro area from an average of 0.2% per year during the period 1987-97 to 1.0% during the period 1998-2007. Over these same periods growth in total hours worked slowed down in the United States from 1.7% to 0.8%.
6  The participation rate in the euro area was 71.1% in 2007, while that in the United States was 75.3%.