Bangalore: A huge work force of the U.S. companies is now taking another brunt of the economic downturn, with their full time job being chopped to part time. The number of such hapless employees has already crossed 3.7 million mark, the largest figure in this regard since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago, reported New York Times.

The shrinking paychecks that come with this job-time-conversion have been adding to the worries of the employees in the U.S. who are already reeling under the pressures of the downturn gripping the economy.

This work time (and paycheck) chopping is rendering the U.S. job market an apparently modest outlook. Layoffs are less frequent than in many slowdowns, while the unemployment rate is a relatively modest 5.5 percent. But that figure masks the strains of those who are losing hours or working part time because they cannot find full-time work.

The number of people, whom the government classifies as working part time involuntarily swelled to 5.3 million last month, a jump of greater than 1 million over the last year. These workers now amount to 3.7 percent of all those employed, up from 3 percent a year ago, and the highest level since 1995.

According to Steve Hipple, an economist at the Labor Department, the loss of hours has been affecting men in particular - and Hispanic men more so. Among those who were forced into part-time work from the spring of 2007 to the spring of 2008, 73 percent were men and 35 percent were Hispanic. Some 28 percent of the jobs affected were in construction, 14 percent in retail and 13 percent in professional and business services.

"The unemployment rate is giving you a misleading impression of some of the adjustments that are taking place," said John E. Silvia, chief economist of Wachovia in Charlotte. "Hours cut is a big deal. People still have a job, but they are losing income."

Some struggling companies are holding on to workers and cutting shifts while hoping to ride out hard times.