(Bloomberg Business) — Friday's labor-market report showed that the number of full-time U.S. jobs as a share of total employment rose to 81.7 percent, the highest level since November 2008.
For those worried (including not a few presidential candidates) that this economic recovery has been one that's created only low-quality jobs, this should be really good news.
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Even so, the share of full-time workers remains below its peak during the last cycle of 83.2 percent in October 2007.
The pool of Americans working part-time for economic reasons–such as not being able to find a job with more hours– fell last month by 180,000 to 6.3 million. That was the lowest level since September 2008.
Additionally, the number of people working part-time for non-economic reasons–going to school, taking care of family, etc.–plunged by 589,000, the biggest decline since June 2012.
At the same time, the number of employees on the payrolls of temporary work services also fell, declining 8,900, the report showed. All of these statistics combine to paint a picture of a "shift to full-time work," economists led by Derek Holt at Scotiabank in Toronto wrote in a note to clients.
The rest of the details of the jobs report were also solid. Overall, payrolls climbed by 215,000 in July and the unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent.
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