May 25, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Independent contractors in 2001

In February of this year, there were 8.6 million persons working as independent contractors. They represented 6.4 percent of total employment, about the same as in February 1999.

Independent contractors as a share of all workers, February 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001
[Chart data—TXT]

Between February 1995 and February 2001, there was a slight decline in the proportion of workers identified as independent contractors—from 6.7 percent in 1995 to 6.4 percent in 2001.

"Independent contractors" are workers identified as independent contractors, independent consultants, or freelance workers, whether they were self-employed or wage and salary workers.

These data are a product of a biennial supplement to the February Current Population Survey. Find out more in Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, February 2001, news release USDL 01-153.

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