Although there are signs of economic recovery from the 2001 recession, companies continue to trim their workforces. A recent study concluded that this phenomenon is due to just-in-time employment practices. Just-in-time employment practices can be defined as the use of temporary and part-time workers and overtime to deal with an increase in demand. Unemployment remains high because employers are reluctant to higher more workers until there is evidence of a permanent increase in demand.
See "Just-in-time workforce slows permanent hiring", Chicago Tribune, July 8, 2003