had offset their spells of unemployment, loss of working hours, loss of benefits, or frozen wages in their formal employment “ very much ” or “ somewhat. ” in addition, three - fourths of uber drivers say that the greater control over their work schedules that uber allows has made their lives better. 12 however, there are likely many workers who would prefer regular full - time traditional work to contingent work, particularly if much of the power in determining hours worked in alternative work arrangements belongs to the employer. technological advances have enabled firms to use justin - time strategies for their employees, making them in effect on - call workers. this is a rising trend in industries such as retail and food preparation. several recent articles describe the challenges faced by these just - in - time workers, who must conform their hours to the daily and even hourly ebbs and flows of business, often not knowing whether they will have work on a given day until they call in that morning to inquire. 13 these arrangements can leave workers scrambling to patch together child care, elder care, and transportation to meet the often unpredictable demands of their workplace, while making it difficult to engage in regularly scheduled activities to enhance their income and opportunities, such as a second job or career training. while such workers often are not given full - time work, they often must make themselves available to work full - time hours. according to one survey, 71 percent of retail workers in new york stated that their hours fluctuated from week to week, while half said their employers could change their hours at will. 14 it is also notable that the increase in contingent work over the past decade has coincided with an increase of one - third in the share of employees working part time but who would prefer to work full time from 3 percent prior to the great recession to close to 4 percent today. in addition, contingent workers may receive lower wages, less training, and fewer benefits than their counterparts with traditional jobs. typically, the wages of low - skilled employees within a company are boosted by social norms regarding pay equity, and nonpecuniary benefits are often equalized across a company ’ s employees, in certain cases as mandated by law. 15 however, the wages that contractors receive are unlikely to reflect the same equity considerations. moreover, contingent work generally does not offer employer - based benefits and workplace protections that come with traditional employment opportunities, like overtime compensation, minimum wage protections, health insurance, family leave, employer - sponsored retirement plans, workers ’ compensation, and paid

from the strengthening of the euro. more recently, the signals with regard to the outlook for growth have been mixed. while data for january was generally favourable, data since then has been less supportive. confidence surveys and activity data have generally weakened again, against the background of the renewed sharp rise in oil prices. this is not encouraging and does not suggest that growth is likely to strengthen in the near term. however, more information from both surveys and hard data is required before firm conclusions can be drawn. this most recent episode is the latest instance in which high and volatile oil prices have raised risks. not only do high and rising oil prices threaten to slow growth, they also raise the risk of higher inflation, and it is essential to ensure that second - round effects on wage and price - setting behaviour are avoided. the impact of higher oil prices on growth and inflation will depend on the scale of oil price increases, its persistence, the economy's dependence on oil and second round effects on inflation. there is much uncertainty about the scale of the impact on growth and inflation and estimates vary widely. on balance, the evidence tends to suggest that the effects of oil price shocks have become milder over time. indeed, with regard to the inflationary impact of rising oil prices, it is notable that euro area inflation has been broadly stable in recent years. for example, despite a more than two and onehalf fold increase in oil prices from around $ 20 per barrel in early 2002, the headline rate of inflation has remained in a fairly narrow range - 1. 6 to 2. 5 per cent - over the same period, while the core rate of inflation has remained close to 2 per cent for most of the time, until recently when it has fallen. with regard to economic activity, while the impact of oil prices has become more muted over time, it nevertheless remains significant. all major economic downturns over the past three decades have been associated with oil price shocks, though not all oil price shocks have led to downturns. furthermore, a new and somewhat worrying feature of current oil markets relates to the rise in long - term futures prices, suggesting that higher oil prices may be here for some time. oil prices are not the only external factor complicating the outlook. there are also the risks posed by widening global current account imbalances, which show no signs of abating. at the same time, movements in exchange rates have come to be linked with the evolution of imbalances.