May 08, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Despite growth, contingent worker rate little changed

About 5.6 million workers held contingent jobs in February 1999. The contingency rate—the share of total employment made up of contingent workers—was 4.3 percent.

[Chart data—TXT]

Both the number of contingent workers and the contingency rate were virtually the same as those reported in a similar survey conducted in 1997. These figures did not change despite the strong labor market conditions prevailing during the period between the two surveys.

Contingent jobs are those structured to be short term or temporary.

These data are from a supplement to the Current Population Survey. Read more in "Contingent work in the late-1990s," Monthly Labor Review, March 2001.