December 27, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Multiple jobholding in 2005

The States showed considerable geographic variation in multiple jobholding in 2005, with lower rates in the South.

[Chart data—TXT]

Overall, 30 States had higher rates than the national average of 5.3 percent, 18 States and the District of Columbia had lower rates, and 2 States matched the U.S. rate.

All seven States in the West North Central division continued to register multiple jobholding rates above that of the Nation. The northernmost States in the Mountain and New England divisions also had relatively high rates.

North Dakota, in the West North Central division, and Wyoming, in the Mountain division, recorded the highest rates, 9.9 percent each. Most of the States with high multiple jobholding rates in 2005 have had consistently high rates for as long as estimates have been available.

Seven of the eight States along the southern border of the United States had multiple jobholding rates equal to or below the U.S. figure. Ten of the sixteen States in the South, plus the District of Columbia, reported multiple jobholding rates below the national rate. Among the eight States with rates at or below 4.5 percent, five were in the South.

The lowest multiple jobholding rates, 3.6 and 3.8 percent, were recorded in West Virginia and Nevada, respectively.

These statistics are prepared by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program with data from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see "Regional Trends: Multiple jobholding in States in 2005," by Jim Campbell, Monthly Labor Review, November 2006. Multiple jobholders are employed persons who had either two or more jobs as a wage and salary worker, were self-employed and also held a wage and salary job, or worked as an unpaid family worker and also held a wage and salary job.