6 Out of 10 'Underemployed' Not Hopeful About Finding Full-Time Work

Sixty-one percent of the "underemployed" -- those who are either out of work or working part time and want full-time jobs -- are not hopeful they will find a job in the next four weeks, according to Gallup tracking polls conducted Jan. 2-31.

Sixty-eight percent of those working part time are not optimistic about finding a full-time job and 55 percent of those unemployed are not hopeful about their prospects.

Gallup says reasons for the difference in the outlook of the two "underemployed" categories are that those who are unemployed are actively searching for jobs while part-timers may have given up, and because the part-timers' obligations to their current jobs restrict their ability to look for new ones.

Demographically, the least hopeful group comprises people between 50 and 65, 71 percent of whom are not hopeful. They are followed by those with college or postgraduate degrees (65 percent), non-Hispanic whites (63 percent), women (63 percent), and Asians (60 percent). The most optimistic groups are blacks (46 percent hopeful), those between 18 and 29 (46 percent hopeful), Hispanics (43 percent hopeful), and those with some college or vocational school (42 percent hopeful).

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