NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The share of Americans holding more than one job ticked up to 5.3 percent in July from 5.2 percent in June, a significant increase from a pandemic low of 4 percent in April 2020, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The figure averaged 4.94 percent from 2010 through 2019.
The trend has occurred as "job growth slowed sharply in July, with the national unemployment rate rising to its highest level since 2021," noted The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
"The comeback of multiple-job holders speaks to some of the mixed currents in an economy that still boasts a growing job market, but has come with higher prices on a broad variety of goods and services, and essentials like rent and insurance," it added.
"One story is that people are short of cash, and they need extra hours and the only way to pick up extra hours is by picking up a short-term job," said Christopher Taber, chairman of the economics department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "Another story is that it's easier to work two jobs now than it was before."
The emergence of the gig economy has made it easier for people to find second jobs driving for ride-share companies or delivering food, he said. The expansion of work-from-home jobs has also made it easier for some people to work two jobs with less commuting.
Even if the labor market softens substantially in the months ahead, Taber said, the number of people holding two jobs might remain high. "The fact that this is still going up while all other measures of holding jobs are falling suggests that it probably has more to do with this long-term trend in working from home."
