October 9, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Multiple jobholding in States in 2007

The multiple jobholding rates for individual States varied considerably from the U.S. average: 28 States had higher multiple-jobholding rates than the national average, 20 States and the District of Columbia had lower rates, and 2 States had the same rate.

[Chart data—TXT]

Northern States generally had higher rates than Southern States. All seven States in the West North Central division continued to register multiple jobholding rates above that of the Nation. The northern States in the Mountain and New England divisions also continued to have relatively high rates. South Dakota recorded the highest rate, 10.2 percent, followed by Nebraska and Vermont, at 9.7 and 9.4 percent, respectively.

Thirteen of the 16 States in the South region, as well as the District of Columbia, had multiple jobholding rates below the U.S. figure. Among the 9 States with rates below 4.5 percent, 6 were in the South. Nevada recorded the lowest multiple jobholding rate in 2007, 3.8 percent, followed by Florida, at 3.9 percent, and Georgia, at 4.1 percent.

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 2007," by Jim Campbell, Monthly Labor Review, September 2008. 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.