A Decade in Decline: Fewer People are Working Full-time,
According to Decision Analyst

Arlington, Texas—The percentage of U.S. adults who report being employed full-time (32 or more hours per week) has dramatically fallen since the year 2000, according to Decision Analyst, a leading marketing research and analytical consulting firm.

Full-Time Employment. In its ongoing U.S. Economic Index Survey, Decision Analyst asks U.S. adults, “Are you currently employed outside the home, or not?” and, if employed, are asked, “full-time or part-time?” In 2000, 58% of respondents answered that they worked full-time, but by 2010 that number dropped to 41%. As shown in the graph below, the decline didn’t start at the beginning of the Great Recession in 2007, but actually began in 2001 when the dot.com bubble burst. The 2000 to 2010 time period is summarized below.

“Even allowing for a wide margin of error, it seems likely that the number of U.S. adults employed full-time has declined by at least 30 million over the past decade. This decline in full-time employment partly explains the lackluster U.S. economic growth over the past 10 years,” said to Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of Decision Analyst.

Worried About Layoffs. In 2000, 74% of U.S. adults were “not worried” about layoffs where they work. By the end of the decade, the percentage who were “not worried” had fallen by 29 percentage points. Those 29 percentage points represent roughly 60 million U.S. adults whose confidence in the job market has waned over the decade. No wonder consumers are reluctant to make major purchases.

Unemployed. The percentage of U.S. adults “unemployed but looking for a job” has more than doubled since 2006. These “unemployed” percentages would be higher if based on size of labor force, instead of total U.S. adults. The “not employed outside of the home” percentage has steadily increased over the decade (many of these are discouraged workers who have given up).

Job Availability. This graph shows the percentage of U.S. adults who think “jobs are plentiful and easy to find” versus those who think “jobs are scarce.” The plight of the U.S. labor market and the depth of Americans’ pessimism are all too evident in the 2010 percentages.

For more information you can download the Decision Analyst Economic Trends 2000-2010 report in pdf format, or email callen@decisionanalyst.com.

Methodology

The Decision Analyst Economic Index Survey is conducted monthly via the Internet among several thousand households balanced by gender, age, and geography. The survey is conducted during the last 10 days of each month. The respondents are from Decision Analyst’s proprietary American Consumer Opinion® Online panel, one of the world’s largest online panels with over eight million members worldwide. The monthly data is aggregated and reported by year in this report. The margin of error is less than one percentage point, plus or minus, at a 95% confidence level.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com), based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is a leading global marketing research and analytical consulting firm specializing in market segmentation, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 33-year-old firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the CPG, technology, food, automotive, healthcare, durable goods, and retail industries.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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