Economic Report of the President 1994 - The American Presidency ...

increase for full-time employment. But part-time employment alwaysexpands during recessions, and the increased use of part-timeworkers during this recession is not significantly different from thepattern of past recessions, given sluggish output growth. Over thelast several decades, however, there has been a small secular increasein the fraction of the labor force working part-time, but ithas not been a steady increase. The fraction grew considerablyfrom the late 1960s through the early 1980s, reaching a peak in1983. It then declined through the rest of the 1980s and increasedmoderately in the 1990 recession. The fraction of workers workingpart-time by choice has remained nearly constant since the early1970s (Chart 3-14).Chart 3-14 Part-Time Employment: Total and VoluntarySince the late 1960s the use of part-time workers has grown, but the numberworking part-time by choice has not.Percent of employment18/ \ Total16-*1412s'Voluntary10oI !I I I I I I I I1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990Source: Department of Labor.What accounts for the secular shifts toward temporary and parttimeemployment? One possibility is that the underlying demandfor goods and services has become more volatile, leading firms todesire less permanent work forces so that they can more easily respondto shifting needs. If this were so, we should observe greatervolatility in the industrial composition of employment or in firmsize. Such evidence is lacking, however. Data from the Census ofManufactures show no long-term increase in variability of firm124