77 Percent of Obama's New Jobs Are Part-Time
Dan Wells
While many economists have described the employment picture as gradually improving in recent months, by one measure it's not improving at all.
In July, only 92,000 of the 266,000 jobs created were full-time — just 35 percent of the total.
You may wonder why the total number of jobs created isn't 162,000, the number commonly used by news services. That number is calculated from the Labor Department's establishment survey of employers. The 266,000 is calculated from the department's household survey.
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For the year through July, only 222,000 jobs created were full-time — representing just 23 percent of the total of 953,000, according to Zero Hedge.
Some economists are raising warning flags over the fact that 77 percent of this year's new jobs are part-time, saying the numbers provide a bleak portrayal of the labor market.
"Essentially the economy is firing on three cylinders instead of six, growing at around 2 percent instead of the 5 percent it should, and as a consequence isn't absorbing as many new workers," Peter Morici, a professor of international business at the University of Maryland and a Moneynews Insider, told Newsmax TV.
"Many of those that it does hire are part timers. Increasingly Americans are relegated to a contingent work force where they work temporary jobs, part-time jobs and so forth. They can't get decent healthcare benefits despite Obamacare, and their wages continue to fall."
Morici and others economists also are concerned by the fact that many of the new jobs are low-paying. More than half of July's job gain came from retailers, restaurants and bars. Average hourly earnings dipped 2 cents in July to $23.98.
"You're getting jobs added, but they might not be the best-quality job," John Canally, an economist with LPL Financial, told The Associated Press.
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