More US part-time workers find full-time jobs

More Americans are moving from part- time to full-time jobs, adding to evidence a strengthening labour market will bolster household confidence and spending.

The number of people putting in a full week rose to 113.8 million in December, the most since February 2009, the Labour Department’s monthly employment report showed last week. At the same time, 8.1 million worked fewer hours because they couldn’t find a full-time job, the least since January 2009.

“It’s what will traditionally happen when the job market overall is beginning to improve,” Tig Gilliam, chief executive officer of Adecco Group North America, said in a telephone interview.

 

While the jobless rate fell 0.5 percentage point over the past three months, going from 9 per cent to 8.5 per cent, the so- called underemployment rate, which includes part-time employees who’d prefer a full-time job, dropped by 1.2 percentage points to reach 15.2 per cent. The gain in hours and earnings resulting from a full-day’s work will probably help sustain consumers.

“By moving into more permanent positions, you get a more productive workforce,” said Michael Gapen, a senior US economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “It makes labour more valuable and that means moderate wage growth, even with the unemployment rate at 8.5 per cent. That translates into better consumption momentum entering this year.”

Stocks rose as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy discussed plans to shore up the euro. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.1 per cent to 1,279.08 at 9.34 am in New York.

German Production
Germany’s economy, meantime, may be stalling. A report today showed industrial production in Europe’s largest economy fell 0.6 per cent in November from a month earlier.

In Australia, retail sales were little changed in November from a month earlier, when they rose 0.2 per cent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney on Monday.

Adecco, headquartered in Melville, New York, is a division of Glattbrugg, Switzerland-based Adecco SA, the world’s largest supplier of temporary workers. Gilliam said his industry “is still seeing double-digit growth in permanent placements and conversions” from part-time and temporary to full-time employment.