To many, part-time job beats having no job at all
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jody Taylor dodged the bullet twice in the past year when the industrial-coating factory where she works as a machine operator went through a series of layoffs. But her hours have been cut back to a four-day workweek.
She considers herself lucky.
"I did lose some money, but I still have a job and health benefits," said Taylor, 51, a single parent.
Taylor has joined the burgeoning ranks of the "underemployed" — the 8.9 million Americans who would prefer full-time jobs but must make do with part-time work.
Their numbers have shot up from 5.2 million a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The April total was down only slightly from 9 million in March, the most since record-keeping began in 1955, the agency said.
The ranks of the underemployed have swelled as tens of thousands of businesses resort to shorter workweeks, furloughs and seasonal shutdowns to avoid deeper cutbacks cash advance loans.
Billy Mendoza, 23, an Apple Inc. tech-support representative in Las Cruces, N.M., dropped to a 25-hour workweek from "OT all the time" last year. He has canceled Internet service, switched to a cheaper TV package and opts for game nights with friends instead of nights out.
Economist Brian Bethune of IHS Global Insight said he expected the number of underemployed to climb, peaking at close to 10 million this summer. But part-timers will regain full-time work more quickly than those who lost their jobs, he said.
Filed under: money by Fred