More on part time jobs and Obamacare

I posted Dean's short answer to the question of whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, led to an increase in temporary jobs. The GOP talking point being that firms cannot afford to pay, and prefer to reduce the hours of their workers so as to not be forced to pay health benefits. Below a figure from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (more here, or here).

Part time jobs are declining as a share of total employment, and stand now below the peaks of other recessions like the Eisenhower and Reagan ones. Note that the definition of part time refers to those who worked 1 to 34 hours during the survey reference week for an economic reason such as slack work or unfavorable business conditions, inability to find full-time work, or seasonal declines in demand.