Unemployed workers looking for jobs may find themselves having somewhat more success this year than they did last year this time.

But Gallup's pollsters warn, based on their polling, that many of those new jobs may be part time, which would explain why their measure of underemployment has ticked up to 20 percent on March 15 from 19.7 percent two weeks earlier.

In its measure of underemployment, Gallup includes the unemployed and those with part-time jobs seeking full-time work.

Gallup warns policymakers against celebrating too much if the Labor Department reports a falling jobless rates in the next few months because of the rise in part-time work which aren't the kinds of jobs that will spell a robust recovery.

Regardless of how one interprets the shifts taking place between part-time and full-time jobs, it is important that policymakers focus on the broader goal of reducing underemployment, not just unemployment. Part-time, temporary jobs like those associated with census-taking are far better than no job and may reduce the unemployment rate, but they do not represent the kind of job creation needed for a sustainable economic recovery.