Number and share of all persons at work who work part time, by type of part time, and reason, 2002–2016
| Involuntary part time (total and by reason) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total at work | Total part time | Total involuntary part time | Slack work | Could find only part time | Voluntary part time | |
| Number (in millions) | ||||||
| 2002 | 131.1 | 23.1 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 18.8 |
| 2003 | 132.3 | 23.7 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 19.0 |
| 2006 | 138.7 | 23.8 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 19.6 |
| 2007 | 140.3 | 24.2 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 19.8 |
| 2014 | 141.3 | 26.7 | 7.2 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 19.5 |
| 2015 | 143.8 | 26.4 | 6.4 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 20.0 |
| 2016* | 145.1 | 26.4 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 20.3 |
| Change 2007–2015 | 2.5% | 9.1% | 44.6% | 30.6% | 87.5% | 1.2% |
| Shares of persons at work | ||||||
| 2002 | 100.0% | 17.6% | 3.2% | 2.1% | 0.9% | 14.4% |
| 2003 | 100.0 | 17.9 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 14.4 |
| 2006 | 100.0 | 17.1 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 14.1 |
| 2007 | 100.0 | 17.2 | 3.1 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 14.1 |
| 2014 | 100.0 | 18.9 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 13.8 |
| 2015 | 100.0 | 18.3 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 13.9 |
| 2016* | 100.0 | 18.2 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 14.0 |
| Change 2007–2015 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | -0.2 |
* Data for 2016 are an average of August 2015–July 2016
Notes: Data are for all workers "at work" age 16 or older, including self-employed workers. Involuntary part-time workers are those classified as "part time for economic reasons" by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Slack work" refers to a reduction in hours in response to unfavorable business conditions.
Source: Author's analysis of Current Population Survey data (see endnote 5)