<\/p>\n
\nTuesday’s tepid brew of jobs data<\/a>, delayed more than two weeks by the government shutdown, wasn’t worth waiting for. It shows an increase in total nonfarm employment by 148,000 in September over August, which is consistent with economic growth crawling along in second gear.<\/p>\n
The report’s most notable nugget is the change in part-time work. Over the last month the number of workers in part-time jobs for economic reasons–slack demand, cutbacks in hours–has remained stable. Over the last year, however, it has fallen by 681,000. Those part-timers also constitute a smaller share of all workers–5.5% in September compared to 6% a year earlier.<\/p>\n
That puts the lie to the popular conservative meme that Obamacare<\/a> has transformed America’s workforce into part-timers. The idea is that employers wishing to evade the law’s requirement that they offer health insurance to employees working more than 30 hours a week will cut their hours to 29 or less. The shorthand about this provided by Sen. Ted Cruz<\/a> (R-Texas), that one-stop shop for Obamacare disinformation, was "single parents who have been forced into part-time work<\/a>." <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n