March 5, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

7.9 million workers were multiple jobholders in 1998

Of the more than 131 million workers employed in 1998, about 6 percent or 7.9 million held more than one job. A majority of these multiple jobholders (57 percent) worked full-time on their primary jobs and part-time on their secondary jobs. Nearly 21 percent worked part-time on both jobs, and 19 percent had hours that varied on either their primary or secondary jobs. Only 3 percent worked full-time on both jobs.

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Multiple jobholding rates varied by marital status: Some 6.7 percent of widowed, divorced, or separated workers were multiple jobholders, compared with 6.1 percent of single (never married) persons and 5.8 percent of married persons with a spouse present.

Men (5.9 percent) and women (6.2 percent) had comparable multiple jobholding rates in 1998. By age, the lowest rates of multiple jobholding were for those 65 years old and over (2.9 percent) and those 16 to 19 years old (4.8 percent), while about 6.3 percent of 20-to-54 year olds were multiple jobholders.

These data on multiple jobholding are produced by the Current Population Survey. More information can be found in Table 36 of the January 1999 edition of "Employment and Earnings." The data in this article are 1998 annual averages.