No longer a record number of part timers seeking full time work

In a comment piece in the Guardian today, the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls told readers that the cost of living crisis is far from over.

The true measure, he said, included:

"whether the record numbers of people who want to work full-time but are forced to work part-time believe they can now afford to make ends meet".

While this was the case last time we checked this claim in October last year, the numbers have since dropped slightly.

The latest figures show 1.44 million people say they work part-time because they can't find a full-time job: down from the peak of 1.47 million in the autumn of 2013.

The survey asks those employed part-time if it's through choice or obligation - other reasons included not wanting a full-time job, being ill or disabled or being a student.

But since the overall numbers of those employed part-time has fluctuated too, a more helpful measure is what proportion of part-time workers this description applies too.

By this measure too there is no longer a 'record', though the rate remains high by historical standards.