Latest / The Macro Memo with Fexingo: Daily Conversations on Inflation, GDP, and Federal Reserve Policy
The Hidden Job Market Signal in Surging Part-Time Work
While the unemployment rate holds at 4.3 percent and job openings have rebounded sharply to 7.6 million, a quieter trend is reshaping the labor market: the number of Americans working part-time for economic reasons has climbed to levels not seen outside a recession since 2021. Lucas and Luna unpack the Bureau of Labor Statistics' underemployment data, explain why the U-6 rate matters more than the headline U-3 number right now, and discuss what rising involuntary part-time work signals about labor slack — and why the Fed might care more about this than the JOLTS headline. Using the May…
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