Part time employment, total (% of total employment) in United States
United States: Part time employment, total (% of total employment) was 26.9% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Part time employment, total in United States, 1994–2025
Source: Wages and Working Time Statistics database (COND), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of total employment.
Analysis
The most recent figure for part time employment, total in United States is 26.9%, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 6.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, part time employment, total in United States peaked at 31.8% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 25.7%, in 2019.
United States ranks 54th of 115 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 32 years of available data.
Part time employment, total (% of total employment) in United States, year by year
| Year | % of total employment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 30.8% | — |
| 1995 | 30.2% | -1.7% |
| 1996 | 30.2% | -0.1% |
| 1997 | 29.2% | -3.4% |
| 1998 | 30.6% | +4.8% |
| 1999 | 28.3% | -7.5% |
| 2000 | 26.9% | -4.8% |
| 2001 | 28.0% | +4.2% |
| 2002 | 27.8% | -1.0% |
| 2003 | 28.1% | +1.1% |
| 2004 | 28.2% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 27.7% | -1.9% |
| 2006 | 27.4% | -0.8% |
| 2007 | 27.1% | -1.2% |
| 2008 | 27.8% | +2.5% |
| 2009 | 31.8% | +14.6% |
| 2010 | 29.9% | -6.2% |
| 2011 | 29.6% | -1.1% |
| 2012 | 28.8% | -2.6% |
| 2013 | 28.0% | -2.9% |
| 2014 | 28.3% | +1.3% |
| 2015 | 28.8% | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 27.4% | -4.7% |
| 2017 | 27.6% | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 26.3% | -4.5% |
| 2019 | 25.7% | -2.2% |
| 2020 | 28.8% | +12.0% |
| 2021 | 26.1% | -9.5% |
| 2022 | 26.5% | +1.5% |
| 2023 | 26.3% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 27.0% | +2.8% |
| 2025 | 26.9% | -0.3% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 26.9% is below the median for high income countries, which is 32.0%, 84% of the median. (49 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 29.9% | 28.3% | 30.8% | 6 |
| 2000s | 28.1% | 26.9% | 31.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 28.0% | 25.7% | 29.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.9% | 26.1% | 28.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More work & labour data for United States
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 113,208 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 61.24 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 178,849 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.4 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.05 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 159,991 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 141,322 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 58.55 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.27 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.3372 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is part time employment, total in United States?
- Part time employment, total in United States was 26.9% in 2025, according to Wages and Working Time Statistics database (COND), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest part time employment, total recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 31.8% in 2009.
- What is the lowest part time employment, total recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.7% in 2019.
- How does United States rank for part time employment, total?
- United States ranks 54th out of 115 countries with data for 2025.
- Is part time employment, total rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Wages and Working Time Statistics database (COND), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Part time employment, total (% of total employment). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 32 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Part-time employment rate represents the percentage of employment that is part time. Part time employment in this series is based on a common definition of less than 35 actual weekly hours worked.