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Differing number of working days per year

I was prepared for differences when counting the number of working days per year. However I never thought they would be so vast. The diagram shows the deviations in the number of working days in the years 1995 to 2001.

Only those calendar-determined figures have been considered. The consequences of the differing holidays would make the picture much worse.

The irregularity in the number of days per month

is a real disadvantage for the economy and especially for all the statistics.

For example, an absolutely equal capacity results in deviations of around 30% (plus 16% to minus 14%) in the turnover of a company or for the occupation of a clinic.

One can neither compare months nor quarters, half-years nor years. So, for example, the percentages for the projection of the 5 wise men for modifying the gross domestic product lie in the region of 2-3% within the error rate of the differing actual working times, from –1,20 to +2,02 = 3,22%!

The following diagram shows the three months January, February and March.

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