Part Time Employment and the Sequester

Part of the reason employment and hours worked, in particular, have been so weak in early 2013 is the rapid growth of part-time employment. Part time employment is volatile and subject to many influences.  From December to June part time employment rose 589,000.  That is a 2.2% — almost 5% annualized – growth rate. Part time employment jumped from 18.4 % of total employment in December  to 19.0% in July.

The unusually large increase in part time employment is due  almost exclusively to the sequester.  For example, at the Department of Defense (DOD) some 650,000 civilians must take 11 days off in the second and third quarters. They have 26 weeks, but after adjusting for federal holidays, vacations, sick leave, etc., the effective  time is 22 weeks. This works out that DOD employees must take an involuntary, unpaid day-off every other week. Consequently, on any given week about half of the DOD civilian workers (325,000) became part time employees.  That is 55% of the 589,000 jump in part time employment in the first half of 2013..

But the sequester is impacting all federal employees and is spreading to federal contractors.  Total federal civilian employment is 2,760,000.  If half are now part time workers that would be 1,380,000, or 134% of the 589,000 jump in part time employment. Even if only 25% of non-DOD federal civilian workers are now part time, it would still mean that the sequester is converting over a million jobs into part-time work.