Economists: More part-time jobs not a good sign
By Michael De Groote, Deseret News
If someone wants a full-time job, but can’t get one, they often will settle for a part-time job. These are the “involuntary part-time workers,” and the recent rise in their numbers has some experts worried.
The government reported that there were 288,000 new jobs added in June. That was the silver lining. Paul Davidson at USA Today wrote about the dark cloud: “The number of hours employees are working? That’s a different story. Among the few worrisome signs in (the) generally encouraging employment report was a sharp rise in the number of part-time workers who prefer full-time jobs. The total jumped by 275,000 to 7.5 million, the Labor Department said.”
In May, the number of involuntary part-timers dropped 196,000, so this jump is a bit of a surprise and the highest this year, Davidson wrote.
Economist Bernard Baumohl told Davidson that the better the economy gets, employees should be putting in more time on the job. “Instead, (Baumohl) notes, the economy has been running in place this year.”
Ylan Q. Mui at the Washington Post says economists have a “gnawing fear” that the dropping unemployment rate (6.1 percent) and other good indications provide “false comfort” in light of the part-time workers numbers.