It is my judgment that the lower level of the unemployment rate today probably does not fully capture the extent of slack remaining in the labor market--in other words, how far away we are from a full-employment economy.
Part-Time Jobs
Another factor we consider when assessing labor market slack is the elevated number of workers who are employed in part-time jobs but would prefer to have full-time work--in other words, those classified as "part time for economic reasons." At around 4-1/2 percent of employment, the share of such workers is notably larger than has been historically typical in a growing economy.