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Number of involuntary part-time workers in December 2022 below pre-pandemic levels
January 11, 2023
The number of people at work part time for economic reasons, also called involuntary part-time workers, totaled 3.9 million in December 2022. These workers would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced due to slack work or they were unable to find full-time jobs. This was a half million fewer people than in February 2020, the month before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession that resulted from it.
Number of people employed part time for economic reasons, February 2020 to December 2022
Month
Total
Slack work or business conditions
Could only find part-time work
Feb 2020
4,389,000
2,817,000
1,287,000
Mar 2020
5,782,000
4,122,000
1,324,000
Apr 2020
10,896,000
9,996,000
716,000
May 2020
10,631,000
9,515,000
873,000
Jun 2020
9,099,000
7,995,000
969,000
Jul 2020
8,413,000
7,253,000
1,005,000
Aug 2020
7,569,000
6,202,000
1,093,000
Sep 2020
6,275,000
4,852,000
1,120,000
Oct 2020
6,645,000
5,265,000
1,156,000
Nov 2020
6,599,000
5,214,000
1,152,000
Dec 2020
6,132,000
4,895,000
1,008,000
Jan 2021
5,962,000
4,767,000
1,016,000
Feb 2021
6,098,000
4,737,000
1,107,000
Mar 2021
5,815,000
4,622,000
999,000
Apr 2021
5,243,000
4,019,000
968,000
May 2021
5,248,000
3,986,000
994,000
Jun 2021
4,630,000
3,466,000
1,049,000
Jul 2021
4,446,000
2,970,000
1,115,000
Aug 2021
4,465,000
3,182,000
1,003,000
Sep 2021
4,450,000
3,143,000
980,000
Oct 2021
4,401,000
3,113,000
975,000
Nov 2021
4,271,000
2,903,000
1,089,000
Dec 2021
3,936,000
2,573,000
1,067,000
Jan 2022
3,735,000
2,412,000
975,000
Feb 2022
4,137,000
2,726,000
1,061,000
Mar 2022
4,168,000
2,883,000
1,045,000
Apr 2022
4,034,000
2,653,000
1,052,000
May 2022
4,317,000
3,000,000
984,000
Jun 2022
3,631,000
2,380,000
910,000
Jul 2022
3,925,000
2,699,000
911,000
Aug 2022
4,140,000
2,767,000
971,000
Sep 2022
3,843,000
2,576,000
942,000
Oct 2022
3,664,000
2,535,000
867,000
Nov 2022
3,688,000
2,546,000
826,000
Dec 2022
3,878,000
2,648,000
911,000
As was typical in previous recessions, slack work was the driving force for the increase in the number of people working part time for economic reasons. The number of people whose hours were reduced due to slack work was 2.8 million in February 2020, peaked at 10.0 million in April 2020, and was 2.6 million in December 2022.
United States Department of Labor
