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Kennedy Jr. stated on March 31, 2024 in a post on X: \"The much-trumpeted job growth in the last year was ENTIRELY part-time jobs.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Economy * Jobs * Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ![\\"Independent](\\" Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to supporters during a campaign event on April 21, 2024, in Royal Oak, Mich. (AP) ![\\"Louis](\\" By Louis Jacobson April 26, 2024 # Was last year\'s US job growth all from part-time jobs? Why RFK Jr.’s claim is Half True #### If Your Time is short * From February 2023 to February 2024, the most recent data available when the statement was made, part-time jobs rose faster than full-time jobs. But the way this metric is calculated fluctuates, so economists advise against fixating on a specific timespan. * For example, shifting the timespan by one month, January 2023 to January 2024, produces the opposite result. * During Joe Biden’s tenure, the number of new part-time jobs taken out of economic necessity is a distinct minority. Since 2021’s second half, people who work part time by their own preference — have held 5 of every 6 part-time jobs. See the sources for this fact-check Have all of the country’s recent job gains come from increases in part-time positions? That’s what independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a recent social media post. On March 31 on X, Kennedy accused the federal government of distorting economic data. He added, \"The much-trumpeted job growth in the last year was ENTIRELY part-time jobs.\" But Kennedy’s jobs claim does not tell the whole story. From February 2023 to February 2024, the most recent data available when Kennedy posted, the net increase in part-time jobs exceeded the net increase in total jobs. However, such numbers can shift wildly month to month, and experts say focusing on just one time period is cherry-picking. During Joe Biden’s presidency, part-time jobs have accounted for only about a quarter of all job gains. Kennedy’s office did not respond to an inquiry for this article. Kennedy’s campaign of conspiracy theories was PolitiFact\'s 2023 Lie of the Year. Economists warn against focusing on data for one particular time period The federal government uses two different surveys to measure employment. One queries businesses. Because it has a larger sample size, economists tend to trust it for measuring total employment. The other survey examines households. It has a smaller sample size, meaning that the results tend to whipsaw from month to month. Therefore, economists pay less attention to the household survey when measuring overall employment. Nevertheless, the household survey is the only one to gauge whether and why Americans are working full-time or part-time. So, for an apples-to-apples comparison, we’ll use the total employment figure from the household survey.. From February 2023 to February 2024, total U.S. employment rose by 667,000 while part-time employment rose by 921,000. So, over that specific yearlong period, part-time employment rose by more than overall employment did. (In this case, part-time jobs rose faster than jobs overall because these are net figures; in any given month, some jobs are lost while others are created.) But economists say it’s problematic to focus on just one period. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 13, 2024 in an Instagram post Kamala Harris voted in favor of passing a law in 2022 to tax tips. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 15, 2024 Shifting the yearlong time span to January 2023 to January 2024 counters Kennedy’s claim. During this period, overall employment rose by 1 million while part-time employment rose by 559,000. Kennedy also ignores the trends throughout Biden’s full tenure. From February 2021, Biden’s first full month in office, to February 2024, overall employment rose by 10.8 million, while part-time employment rose by a little less than 2.9 million. That means that during Biden’s presidency, the part-time jobs increase has accounted for about one-quarter of overall job growth — not all of it. Part-time employment doesn’t necessarily reflect badly on the economy It’s also not clear that the increase in part-time jobs is a bad thing, for workers or the economy. Federal data distinguishes between people working part time for economic reasons and people working part time for noneconomic reasons. Economists see increases in the first group as more worrisome, because these people want a full-time job but were forced to take a part-time job because it’s all they could find. By contrast, many people in the second group are working part-time by choice. In many cases, these are students, parents of young children, retirees or people who want a less stressful lifestyle. \"In my research, we consistently find that the voluntary part-time workers report higher health, happiness with work and satisfaction with work schedules than both full-time workers and people working part-time for economic reasons,\" said Lonnie Golden, a Penn State University economist. So, even if a large share of new jobs are part-time, \"that\'s a good thing,\" Golden said. The number of new part-time jobs taken out of economic necessity is a distinct minority. Since 2021’s second half, part-time jobs for economic reasons have accounted for fewer than 1 in 6 part time jobs. Also, part-time jobs taken for economic reasons as a percentage of all jobs haven’t been higher than 3% since mid-2021, and they are near a record low going back to the 1950s. Our ruling Kennedy said, \"The much-trumpeted job growth in the last year was ENTIRELY part-time jobs.\" That’s the case for one specific yearlong period, from February 2023 to February 2024. However, economists warn that this metric whipsaws, and in this case, shifting the time span by just one month inverts the finding. During Biden’s presidency, overall employment has risen almost four times faster than part-time employment has. The statement is partially accurate but ignores important information, so we rate it Half True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Robert F. Kennedy Jr., X post, March 31, 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Employment Level, accessed April 26, 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Employment Level - Part-Time for Noneconomic Reasons, accessed April 26, 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Employment Level - Part-Time for Economic Reasons, accessed April 26, 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Employed, Usually Work Part Time, accessed April 26, 2024 Email interview with Gary Burtless, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, April 5, 2024 Email interview with Brad J. Hershbein, senior economist and deputy director of research at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, April 5, 2024 Email interview with Lonnie Golden, Penn State University economist, April 5, 2024 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Louis Jacobson slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on July 13, 2024 in a statement to the media: “The idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 15, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Byron Donalds stated on July 7, 2024 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: Kamala Harris \"co-sponsored, fully sponsored\" the Green New Deal. ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 10, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on April 4, 2024 in a post on TikTok: Donald Trump’s plan is “cutting Social Security for you.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • June 21, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention: Former President Donald Trump \"intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax ... that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" J.D. 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The muchtrumpeted job growth in the last year was ENTIRELY parttime jobs