@hawkeye10,
Q: why does the government not report the job situation in " full time equivalent" terms?
A: a true representation of how much the jobs situation sucks would piss the American people off. >>
All of that, and all other concerns, are covered by the monthly CPS household survey report.
The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides a comprehensive body of data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, persons not in the labor force, hours of work, earnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics.
http://www.bls.gov/cps/