Seven months after losing a job in construction, Lorenzo Henderson found work earlier this month packing shelves at a supermarket three days a week, joining a trend toward part-time work that is worrying economists.
The 24-year-old father of two from Washington said he had to settle for part-time work after becoming increasingly disillusioned about getting a full-time job anytime soon.
"To be honest, I am not sure my situation will change. If that was the case I would have had a job a long time ago," Henderson told Reuters. "When I got laid off I thought I would get something quickly, but seven months later I am still waiting for a job."
On Nov 7, the government said the US unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent in October, the highest rate since March 1994.
But, more worrying for economists, the number of people working part-time for economic reasons jumped 645,000 in October to 6.7 million. That has convinced some economists that the United States is staring at a recession at least as deep as the 1980s contraction.
"No higher figure has been seen since the 1982 recession, when a record 6.86 million people were working part-time for economic reasons," said Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.
"The surge is of course a sign of the times: people are working part-time to make ends meet."
Depending on the number of hours he works, Henderson can take home up to $180 a week for his three days at The Giant Supermarket in Washington's Brentwood neighborhood, compared with $475 a week when he was working at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.
"I am stressed out about how to pay the bills. I have to worry about food, clothing and shelter. Christmas is coming, the money I am getting from the part-time job is tight," he said.
US employers slashed 240,000 jobs in October after eliminating 284,000 positions in September. Some 1.2 million Americans have lost their jobs since the start of the year.
Among those who lost their job in October is 51-year-old Brad Hall, who used to earn about $1,080 a week laying underground pipes at construction sites in Wilmington, Illinois.
He and his wife now depend on a weekly $300 unemployment check, insufficient for day-to-day needs given the high cost of food, he says.
Analysts reckon the situation will deteriorate further in the months ahead and expect the jobless rate to peak at anywhere between 8 percent and 10 percent.
"We are going to continue to get jobs reports like this for some months because the economy is starting to cycle down," said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland.
"We had a collapse in housing construction, now non-residential construction is collapsing, retail sales are declining. We are expecting to lose more jobs in manufacturing and construction. The problem is the banks are not lending money."
