---
title: "Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment"
slug: the-short-shift
summary: "Involuntary part-time work was little changed at 2.8% of the employed in September 2026"
category: "The Deal"
unit: percent
frequency: monthly
direction: higher_is_worse
latest_value: 2.7588
latest_period: "2026-09"
trend: stable
last_updated: "2026-10-02T00:00:00Z"
source: "Computed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics LNS12032194 / CE16OV data retrieved via FRED)"
source_url: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12032194
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/."
---

# Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment

Also tracked as The Short Shift.

> Involuntary part-time work was little changed at 2.8% of the employed in September 2026

## Current Reading

As of September 2026, Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment is **2.76%** (stable).

Share of employed people who worked part time for an economic reason, computed from seasonally adjusted BLS data, the same as a year earlier.

## What Changed

- The involuntary part-time share of employment was little changed at 2.8% in September 2026, compared with 2.7% in August 2026.
- The same as a year earlier.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2026-09 | 2.76% |
| 2026-08 | 2.7% |
| 2026-07 | 2.96% |
| 2026-06 | 2.88% |
| 2026-05 | 2.95% |
| 2026-04 | 3.04% |
| 2026-03 | 2.76% |
| 2026-02 | 2.7% |
| 2026-01 | 2.99% |
| 2025-12 | 3.26% |
| 2025-11 | 3.35% |
| 2025-09 | 2.81% |

## Historical Context

This series is not comparable end to end, so no all-time extreme or long-run average is published for it. The source changed what it measures on the following date(s):

- January 1994: BLS redesigned the Current Population Survey questionnaire in January 1994 and began requiring people who usually work part time to want and be available for full-time work; its parallel test found the new questions changed the measured share, so earlier values are not comparable. Source: https://www.bls.gov/cps/revisions1994.pdf

Compare readings only within a single segment. Subtracting across one of these dates measures the change in method, not in household conditions.

## Methodology

This indicator carries monthly observations and is interpreted as higher values indicate worse household conditions. Source: Computed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics LNS12032194 / CE16OV data retrieved via FRED).
Automation: collected automatically on the daily refresh pipeline, with no hand entry.

## Source

Computed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics LNS12032194 / CE16OV data retrieved via FRED) — [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12032194](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12032194)

Data retrieved: 2026-10-02T00:00:00Z

## Related Indicators

- [part-time-for-economic-reasons](https://americandefault.org/indicators/part-time-for-economic-reasons/)
- [the-second-job](https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-second-job/)
- [u-6-underemployment-rate](https://americandefault.org/indicators/u-6-underemployment-rate/)
- [unemployment-rate](https://americandefault.org/indicators/unemployment-rate/)

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

- HTML page: https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/indicators/the-short-shift.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/the-short-shift.csv
- BibTeX: https://americandefault.org/citations/the-short-shift.bib
- RIS: https://americandefault.org/citations/the-short-shift.ris

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Involuntary Part-Time Share of Employment." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/the-short-shift/.

Use **American Default Research** as the institutional name in source lists, bibliographies, and press citations. **American Default** is the brand and URL form. **American Distress Index (ADI)** is the product name for the national composite score.