Article
December 2013
Multiple jobholding in states in 2012
The annual average multiple-jobholding rate for the United States was 4.9 percent in 2012, although rates varied by state.
In 2012, South Dakota recorded the highest multiple-jobholding rate of any state, 9.5 percent, followed by Vermont, 8.6 percent, and Nebraska, 8.5 percent.1 Four additional states had multiple-jobholding rates of 8.0 percent or above. Most of the states with high multiple-jobholding rates in 2012 have had consistently high rates over the time span during which estimates have been available. Florida had the lowest multiple-jobholding rate of any state in 2012, 3.4 percent. Four other states recorded rates below 4.0 percent. The annual average multiple-jobholding rate for the United States was 4.9 percent in 2012, unchanged from 2011 and 2010. No state had a statistically significant over-the-year change in its multiple-jobholding rate.
Multiple-jobholding rates for individual states continued to vary considerably around the U.S. average of 4.9 percent. (See figure 1 and table 1.) In 2012, 18 states had multiple-jobholding rates significantly higher than the national average, 7 states had significantly lower rates, and 25 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from the national average. As in past years, northern states generally had higher rates than southern states. All but one state in the West North Central Census division had multiple-jobholding rates significantly above the U.S. average, while the New England and Pacific divisions each had all but two states with rates measurably above the U.S. average. Five of the seven states with multiple-jobholding rates significantly below the national average were located in the South region.2
Table 1: Multiple jobholders as a percentage of total employment, by state, annual averages, 2011 and 2012| U.S. Census region and division | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|
| Rate | Error at 90 percent confidence |
|---|
| United States | 4.9 | 4.9 | ±0.1 |
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| Northeast region | 5.0 | 4.8 | ±0.3 |
|---|
New England division | 5.9 | 6.0 | ±0.5 |
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Connecticut | 5.5 | 5.8 | ±0.8 |
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Maine | 8.1 | 8.1 | ±1.0 |
|---|
Massachusetts | 5.4 | 5.4 | ±0.9 |
|---|
New Hampshire | 6.1 | 6.0 | ±0.7 |
|---|
Rhode Island | 5.9 | 5.6 | ±0.7 |
|---|
Vermont | 8.3 | 8.6 | ±1.0 |
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Middle Atlantic division | 4.7 | 4.4 | ±0.3 |
|---|
New Jersey | 4.4 | 4.5 | ±0.6 |
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New York | 4.4 | 3.9 | ±0.5 |
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Pennsylvania | 5.4 | 5.0 | ±0.5 |
|---|
| South region | 4.1 | 4.2 | ±0.2 |
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South Atlantic division | 4.1 | 4.2 | ±0.3 |
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Delaware | 4.2 | 4.9 | ±0.7 |
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District of Columbia | 4.3 | 4.3 | ±0.7 |
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Florida | 3.4 | 3.4 | ±0.5 |
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Georgia | 3.8 | 3.9 | ±0.6 |
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Maryland | 5.3 | 5.4 | ±0.7 |
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North Carolina | 5.1 | 5.1 | ±0.7 |
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South Carolina | 3.6 | 3.7 | ±0.7 |
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Virginia | 4.5 | 4.4 | ±0.8 |
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West Virginia | 4.1 | 4.3 | ±1.2 |
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East South Central division | 4.3 | 4.5 | ±0.5 |
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Alabama | 3.3 | 4.0 | ±1.0 |
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Kentucky | 4.3 | 5.4 | ±1.1 |
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Mississippi | 5.3 | 5.0 | ±1.1 |
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Tennessee | 4.6 | 4.1 | ±0.8 |
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West South Central division | 4.0 | 4.0 | ±0.4 |
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Arkansas | 3.7 | 4.7 | ±0.9 |
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Louisiana | 4.0 | 3.8 | ±0.9 |
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Oklahoma | 4.1 | 4.2 | ±0.9 |
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Texas | 3.9 | 4.0 | ±0.5 |
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| Midwest region | 6.1 | 6.0 | ±0.3 |
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East North Central division | 5.5 | 5.4 | ±0.3 |
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Illinois | 5.0 | 5.1 | ±0.6 |
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Indiana | 4.9 | 4.6 | ±0.8 |
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Michigan | 5.0 | 4.4 | ±0.7 |
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Ohio | 6.0 | 6.1 | ±0.8 |
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Wisconsin | 6.9 | 6.9 | ±1.0 |
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West North Central division | 7.4 | 7.3 | ±0.4 |
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Iowa | 7.6 | 7.3 | ±0.9 |
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Kansas | 7.8 | 8.2 | ±1.1 |
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Minnesota | 8.1 | 8.1 | ±0.9 |
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Missouri | 5.6 | 5.3 | ±0.9 |
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Nebraska | 8.6 | 8.5 | ±0.9 |
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North Dakota | 9.0 | 8.0 | ±1.3 |
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South Dakota | 9.0 | 9.5 | ±1.2 |
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| West region | 4.9 | 4.9 | ±0.2 |
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Mountain division | 5.2 | 5.3 | ±0.4 |
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Arizona | 3.9 | 4.8 | ±0.9 |
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Colorado | 5.8 | 5.7 | ±0.9 |
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Idaho | 7.4 | 6.0 | ±1.1 |
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Montana | 6.3 | 7.5 | ±1.3 |
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Nevada | 5.0 | 4.5 | ±0.8 |
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New Mexico | 3.7 | 4.0 | ±1.0 |
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Utah | 5.8 | 6.0 | ±1.0 |
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Wyoming | 7.5 | 7.0 | ±1.1 |
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Pacific division | 4.8 | 4.7 | ±0.2 |
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Alaska | 6.2 | 6.1 | ±1.4 |
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California | 4.3 | 4.2 | ±0.3 |
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Hawaii | 6.1 | 6.2 | ±0.8 |
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Oregon | 6.6 | 6.7 | ±0.9 |
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Washington | 5.7 | 5.7 | ±0.7 |
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The U.S. multiple-jobholding rate has declined gradually or remained flat each year since peaking at 6.2 percent in 1996.3 Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia had lower multiple-jobholding rates in 2012 than in 1996. The remaining two states had rates that were unchanged or only marginally higher over that 16-year span. The largest declines from 1996 to 2012 occurred in Missouri (-3.7 percentage points), Idaho (-3.5 points), and Hawaii (-3.2 points).
Suggested citation:
Susan Campolongo, "Multiple jobholding in states in 2012,"
Monthly Labor Review,
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
December 2013, https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2013.38
Notes
1 Data for this report come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a survey of about 60,000 households selected to represent the U.S. population 16 years and older. The survey is conducted monthly by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Multiple jobholders are those persons who report, in the reference week of the survey, that they are wage or salary workers who hold two or more jobs, self-employed workers who also hold a wage or salary job, or unpaid family workers who also hold a wage or salary job.
2 The South region is composed of the East South Central, South Atlantic, and West divisions.
3 Annual multiple-jobholding data for states became available following the redesign of the CPS in 1994.
United States Department of Labor
