The assumption for Allied planners was that urban destruction would create a growing problem of absenteeism, which would contribute to undermining armaments production. Yet the statistics show that bombing contributed only a small proportion of lost hours in 1944. According to records compiled by the Economics Ministry, in October 1944 only 2.5 percent of hours lost nationally were attributed to air raids. Absenteeism was a result of illness, leave, truancy, or workplace problems—a total of 16 percent lost work hours—but was not directly caused by bomb attack.
