New York Times (04/20/13) Catherine Rampell

Although job growth has been strong of late, 7.6 million Americans who would like to work longer hours have been working at part-time or temporary jobs. Although increases in the number of people with part-time or temporary jobs can be an early indicator that companies will soon engage in more permanent hiring, many employees have been working at part-time or temporary jobs for much longer than they had expected.

“This job recovery has been more modest than previous cycles,” says Joseph A. LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank in New York. “That, the corporate uncertainty, and the recent financial crisis have caused a lot of companies to worry about access to financing. They want to hold extraordinary amounts of cash in this environment, and they’re reluctant to make a more permanent commitment to hiring or hiring someone full time.”