Many people talked of the 288,000 new jobs the Labor Department reported for June, along with the drop in the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, as good news. And they were right. For now it appears the economy is creating jobs at a decent pace. We still have a long way to go to get back to full employment, but at least we are now finally moving forward at a faster pace.

However, there is another important part of the jobs picture that was largely overlooked. There was a big jump in the number of people who report voluntarily working part-time. This figure is now 830,000 (4.4 percent) above its year ago level.

Before explaining the connection to the Obamacare, it is worth making an important distinction. Many people who work part-time jobs actually want full-time jobs. They take part-time work because this is all they can get. An increase in involuntary part-time work is evidence of weakness in the labor market and it means that many people will be having a very hard time making ends meet.

There was an increase in involuntary part-time in June, but the general direction has been down. Involuntary part-time employment is still far higher than before the recession, but it is down by 640,000 (7.9 percent) from its year ago level.

We know the difference between voluntary and involuntary part-time employment because people tell us. The survey used by the Labor Department asks people if they worked less than 35 hours in the reference week. If the answer is “yes,” they are classified as working part-time. The survey then asks whether they worked less than 35 hours in that week because they wanted to work less than full time or because they had no choice. They are only classified as voluntary part-time workers if they tell the survey taker they chose to work less than 35 hours a week.

The issue of voluntary part-time relates to Obamacare because one of the main purposes was to allow people to get insurance outside of employment. For many people, especially those with serious health conditions or family members with serious health conditions, before Obamacare the only way to get insurance was through a job that provided health insurance.

However, Obamacare has allowed more than 12 million people to either get insurance through Medicaid or the exchanges.  These are people who may previously have felt the need to get a full-time job that provided insurance in order to cover themselves and their families. With Obamacare there is no longer a link between employment and insurance.

1.Which part of the jobs picture was neglected?

A The prospect of a thriving job market.

B The increase of voluntary part-time jobs.

C The possibility of full employment.

D The acceleration of job creation.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据jobs picture和neglected定位到第二段，可知就业前景中有个很重要的部分被忽视，就是自愿兼职工作的人数激增，比去年同期增长了83万（4.4%）。故选B。

2.Many people work part-time because they _________.

A prefer part-time jobs to full-time jobs

B feel that is enough to make ends meet

C cannot get their hands on full-time jobs

D haven’t seen the weakness of the market

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据Many people work part-time定位到第三段。可知很多做兼职工作的人实际上想要做全职工作，他们之所以做兼职工作，是因为他们只能做兼职工作。C“找不到全职工作”符合原文，故选C。

3.Involuntary part-time employment in the US _________.

A shows a general tendency of decline

B is harder to acquire than one year ago

C satisfies the real need of the jobless

D is lower than before the recession

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据Involuntary part-time employment和US定位到第四段，可知6月份，美国非自愿兼职有所增加，但总体呈下降趋势，比一年前也是减少了64万，故选A。

4.It can be learned that with Obamacare, _________.

A it is no longer easy for part-timers to get insurance

B full-time employment is still essential for insurance

C it is still challenging to get insurance for family members

D employment is no longer a precondition to get insurance

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据with Obamacare定位到最后两段，根据第六段第一句和第七段最后一句可知，非就业人员也可以得到保险，保险和就业之间不再有联系。故选D。

5.The text mainly discusses _________.

A employment in the US

B part-timer classification

C insurance through Medicaid

D Obamacare’s trouble

解析：选A。A 主旨大意题。文章主要围绕美国的就业形势以及奥巴马医改的影响展开，并未提及奥巴马医改遇到的困难。A“美国的就业”更符合原文，故选A。