The number of hours worked increased while the amount of vacancies open decreased across the board in Bermuda during 2008, according to Government's latest report.

The Labour Market Indicators study by the Department of Statistics revealed that average weekly hours worked rose from 33 hours in 2007 to 36.1 hours in 2008, with men putting in more hours (38) than women.

Total weekly hours worked peaked at 1,452,386, again with males ahead of females by almost 150,000 hours over the same period.

Median annual gross earnings also followed an upward trend over the past four years, up at $54,867 last year from $53,298 in 2007, with men once more earning slightly more at $55,009 versus $54,688 for women respectively.

The median age of the job holder similarly climbed to 43.1 years last year compared to 42.7 years in 2007, with women just above the average at 43.4 years.

On the flipside, vacancies continued to drop in most professions, with executive secretary positions down from 81 to 47 over the same time period, as were professional accountants from 56 to 47, masons from 36 to 30, and general waiters from 23 to 17.

But chefs/cooks were in demand, up from 28 to 32, and managers/directors of finance from 30 to 31.

Masons led the way in terms of jobs held by males, with 758 posts, followed by chefs/cooks at 552 and semi-skilled construction labourers at 523.

The female occupations were topped by executive secretaries/personal assistants with a job count of 886, senior clerks (751) and cashiers (551).

Broken down further, the results showed that the average weekly hours and total weekly hours worked by Bermudians, despite increasing year-on-year, was also below that of the overall figure for all job holders at 35.1 hours and 952,899 hours respectively.

Meanwhile median annual gross earnings, although up over the past four years, was almost $3,000 less than the total job holder figure, at $51,976.

Heavy truck drivers proved to be the most popular jobs among men, with 457 positions filled, while women preferred the role of executive secretary (704).

The average weekly hours and total weekly hours worked for other non-Bermudians (other than non-Bermudian spouses) was also on the rise, to 39 hours and 404,114 hours, as were median annual gross earnings, up from $64,210 to $65,316.

Most men worked as chefs/cooks (508), while accountancy was the biggest profession of choice for women (281).

Finally, more black summer students (314) were taken on in all professions than their white and other counterparts (194), with retail trade and repair the biggest employer at 177 and electricity, gas and water recruiting only one overall.