U.S. adults said they are spending more time on the Internet — nearly 8 percent of their week this year, according to a recent survey.

The Harris Poll reported that Americans 18 and older spent an average of 13 hours a week online, excluding time spent checking e-mail. That’s an hour a week less than in October 2008, during the election campaign and burgeoning financial crisis — but nearly double the time spent online a decade ago. In 1999, Americans said they spent an average of seven hours a week online. That increased to between eight and nine hours through 2006 and then grew to 11 hours a week in 2007.

Harris said the increase in the past two years was “striking,” and partly reflected growth in TV watched on the Internet and online shopping. Half the people surveyed said they had shopped over the Internet in the last month.

Associated Press