Looking at them in the context of the rest of the labor market.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.
These three categories of workers can shed some light on the complexities of the labor market, against the background of the employment report today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (discussion here).
Self-employment is at a historically low share of total employment. The number of self-employed non-agricultural and non-incorporated workers – including the “gig workers” – ticked up to 9.07 million in July, accounting for 5.6% of total employment, a historically low share (charts below show the three-month averages, which iron out some of the monthly squiggles).
The self-employed range from professionals that have struck out on their own to be their own boss to rideshare drivers.
Part-time employment is defined as working up to 34 hours per week. So the upper end of part time is not far from full time (35 hours or more).
There were 28.76 million people who were working part time, accounting for 17.7% of total employment.
Part-time workers are divided into two categories:
For “noneconomic reasons.” Part-time work is what suits their needs, such as childcare problems, family or personal obligations, school or training, staying connected in retirement, Social Security limits on earnings, and other reasons.
There were 22.8 million people in July who were working part-time for these noneconomic reasons. This figure doesn’t really say anything about labor market conditions.
For “economic reasons.” They want to work more hours but cannot find a full-time job, or the hours of their full-time job got cut to 34 hours or less.
Part-time employment due to economic reason is caused by labor market conditions and sheds some additional light on those conditions. And we need to keep our eyes on it.
The number of people who worked part-time due to economic reasons rose to 4.8 million in July, accounting for 3.0% of total employment.
This share of 3.0% is historically low. But there were periods when it was lower: during the Dotcom Bubble; briefly in 2006; from mid-2019 to January 2020; and then since the labor shortages starting in late 2021, except for a couple of months late last year.
In a hot labor market, we would expect this share to decline to the 2.5% range, where it had been in the prior hot labor markets (Dotcom Bubble of the late 1990s and the period of labor shortages in 2021-2022).
Multiple jobholders are defined as holding two or more jobs during the survey reference week, at least one of which must be a wage and salary job. This includes “unpaid family workers” (work without pay on the family farm or business = one job) who also have a wage and salary job.
Multiple jobholders encompass diverse situations. For example, about 15 million single-family rental properties are owned by mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties). Those among the millions of owners that manage their own rentals and in addition have a wage and salary job count as multiple jobholders. A guy working for a tech company on a salary and stock options, plus working part-time as a consultant or coder is a multiple jobholder. The teacher who also drives for Uber is one too. A person with a salaried engineering job who also works unpaid at a family business or farm is a multiple job holder. A grocery store cashier who waits tables in the evening is also one of them.
Multiple jobholders are not automatically a sign of economic distress or low-paid jobs or not being able to make ends meet or whatever – though some multiple jobholders fall into these categories. Broadly, multiple jobholder data illuminate the dynamic complexity of people’s lives and interests, the American spirit of working, and people’s ability to create multiple income streams.
There were 8.58 million multiple jobholders in July, not seasonally adjusted, accounting for 5.3% of total employment.
The range of those months is the lowest since late 2024 and right in the middle of this 40-year historic range.
Of those multiple jobholders:
- Over half (55%) had a full-time job and a part-time job
- A quarter (25%) had two part-time jobs and no full-time job.
- Only 5.5% had two full-time jobs.
- And 13% had varying hours in either job.
Enjoy reading WOLF STREET and want to support it? You can donate. I appreciate it immensely. Click on the mug to find out how:
Thanks WR,
My friend is unemployed for last 5 years and working part time, say 10 hours/week as he could not find a full time job or hours.
Yes, he is in the part-time for “economic reasons” chart.
Try to turn a hobby that you usually do not earn money for into a money-making project with a little creativity and management. For instance, I use to babysit my sister’s kitten. I started a business caring for cats while their owners are on vacation. One day, a grew a pepper plant. Then I decided to sell peppers I grow from January to November to local restaurants.
basic Conversaition I have with many managers/actual workers
mils and Gen Z have no ethics – don’t show up, skills so-so
and basically don’t care – quit routinely while ON JOB – ie walk off
right now I have 3 workers = 65+ each one
work in 105 degree heat and don’t complain
had 40 year old who worked 4 hours 1 day
came in 2 hours late and said he wouldn’t be back next day
we have LAZY, UNSKILLED non-workforce
WOMEN are ones working
“65+ each one work in 105 degree heat and don’t complain”
Isn’t that special. You must be very proud of yourself.
work is work – you forgot /s tag
I’d rather have younger ones but these guys wanted the work
show me mil and/or gen Z who will perform work and show up every day
I also have to supervise in this heat(I’m there age)
now I need to get ready to leave for cooler mountain air
Millennials and Gen Z are not the generations that have destroyed this country. We are the ones saddled with the enormous debt. We are the ones that are burdened with clean up this shitshow.
Yep
False equivalence.
Being saddled with debt does not make one have bad work ethic nor justify it
I beg to differ
want to throw baggage were it belongs
grifters in CONS gress did that ALL BY THEMSELVES w/their potus’s
we got shafted by NIXON when he took us off GOLD STANDARD
‘we were spendthrifters’
took 50 years to break us, but now we’re at end line
fat lady warming up
I didn’t ’cause’ inflation govt did
I use the big Hershey bar as my example
in mid 70’s use to buy for .25 cents
today around $6-$8 each
NOW TELL ME is there any more VALUE than in 70’s????
just takes more FIAT $DOLLARS to purchase
inflation is made up word by govt = devaluation of fiat $dollar
place blame were it squarely belongs
Gaston, I agree that it’s not any excuse for poor behaviors or ethics, but the correlation is real.
Getting away with generations of bad behavior cannot produce the good and desirable ones.
The messaging is clear: There’s NO accountability or consequence for irresponsibility!
Almost 40 trillion reasons for an excuse.
My first career job out of college in 2008, I made ~$18/hr in Washington D.C. I was a low-level administrative assistant and damn lucky to get even that, with the GFC and all; but, I sat in an air conditioned office, only worked 9 AM – 5 PM, had 100% paid insurances, fantastic 401k match, etc.
Today that is the equivalent of ~$28/hr.
You say you pay these people $35/hr to slag all-day in 105° heat doing hard, physical labor — and that hourly rate probably doesn’t even include any insurances or retirement… And you wonder why nobody wants to show up for work.
Don’t act holier-than-thou thinking you’re paying a wage most people would want to do, when there are so many other options for employment out there today — most with a lot better working conditions than what you’re offering.
Here in Retirement City there are at least 5 people age 75+ (out of 34 households) who work part-time. Two baby sit animals and the house when the owners go to Europe or wherever, one works as a home aid, one is in sales, and another stills drives a semi and is still in the “official” 40 hour a week work force. The other 3 are in the off-the-books economy. Folks gotta keep up with all the rent increases. Social Security does not keep up with the cost of living.
The “off the books” economy shows up in the second data set in the jobs report (household survey: unemployment rate, labor force, participation rates, etc.). It does not show up in the first set (nonfarm payrolls from the establishment survey).
Working, or not, is a dilemma for every American, my peer group
Unemployment is devistating
Under employment a manageable problem
I think a huge problem, which isn’t at all new, is the misalignment of skills people are graduating with and the skills the economy needs. Obviously a huge variety of reasons for that but creates significant underemployment in the 22-27 age range. I was surprised it is consistently around 40%. I most put it on the false correlation that college graduates make more money so everyone should take that path.
so untrue, the mils, Gen Z have 10-20% who WORK
other 80% would rather pretend, smoke joint, play games on nintendo
and complain they don’t make enough
I have tried repeatedly to hire SKILLED WORKERS or others who I can TRAIN
lazy, not motivated at $25 hour to learn and be productive
FIRED – per TRUMP
right now I have 3 workers OVER 65 at $35 hour who show up and W O R K
Joedidee:
I think the problem is more complex than just generational.
For instance a friend of mine in his late 80’s needed his overgrown property of 6 acres cleaned up… flat with heavy grass. Was willing to pay whatever someone would charge.
2 advertised lot clearing companies came and gave him estimates… never called back and never returned, and would not return his calls.
He hired 2 separate individuals from a temp company, and allowed them to use his equipment, tractor with brush hog, riding mower, weed wacker. 1 lasted 3 hrs. The other lasted 1/2 day. Neither returned.
He hired 2 separate individuals who needed work. 1 worked a half day, left for lunch and never returned for his half day of pay (my friend was most perplexed and slightly upset that he did not even return for his money). The second lasted 4 hrs.
This included land clearing companies and individuals of all age groups. It was not a complex job of any sorts.
He was telling me the story, and I just went out and spent the day with his tractor and took care of it for him, in exchange for a cold beer and a visit.
I wonder why your friend has an overgrown 6-acre property, that (apparently) he does not use. Why doesn’t he sell it to a builder, which could profit him while helping increase the housing supply?
Taxpayer:
It is rural, and he usually runs a cow on a big portion of it. The rest is fenced around a barn that he runs a pig now and then. The animals keep it from overgrowing….when they are there.
No condos will be built there any time soon.
Haha
Well I suppose people can stack your anecdotes and judgments against research done by New York Fed and published in Forbes. Isaac Asimov was not wrong about our society.
“Overall, 42% of recent college graduates were classified as underemployed, the highest level since 2020. Majors in the arts, humanities and social sciences accounted for most of the highest rates of underemployment among recent graduates. The highest rate was experienced by criminal justice majors at 65.8%, followed closely by performing arts at 63.9%.”
Would you accept immigrants at the same pay rate with a stronger work ethic?
Looks like a pretty solid job market, from what I’ve experienced in the past. It helps to have support from family and friends, and work related contacts…
Capitalism is an anachronism.
We don’t have capitalism. We necessarily have regulated capitalism. Laissez faire capitalism leads to oligopoly, monopsony, and monopoly elements, e.g., the dockworkers in Long Beach CA.
While I agree with most of your comment, the example is a weird choice. The dockworkers you mention are part of a labor monopoly by the ILWU on the West Coast. While the history, agreement, and current circumstances were triggered by regulated capitalism, it is still a kind of monopoly with similar downstream negative effects. I guess it could be used as an example of regulated capitalisms failures?
Collage grads. do not make more money initially than a tradesman because of the opportunity cost of going to college. The tradesman is earning money for four years while the college goes is spending it. So the college grad better make a lot of money immediately to cover the two negative income streams he incurred while in school. Many never catch up especially if they incurred debt, a third negative income stream, going to college.
Thanks for the info.
I liked the phrase
“American spirit of working”
I know at least in the trades etc. there is a very large cash/non reported work going on,at least in the New England area.
I am not sure what percentage this is of workforce but at least in trades would say minimum 5% in my region.
This occurs quite frequently in the Southeast as well, especially for individual self-employed tradesmen. You will get quoted a regular price and a cash price.
For some strange reason, the cash price is always less than the regular price. LOL
Hi Bruce,
Using AI and a recent Stanford University Report among other sources I was surprised to find the estimated lost tax revenues as a result of cash transactions was $500B.
I always had a full time job and paid lots of Canadian taxes as we have a very good social safety net. Someone has to pay for it. Never minded paying my taxes on my real job and don’t mind paying them on my retirement income, either. But after work hours and on many weekends I had my “gig jobs,” either doing construction or flying for logging companies. Those were cash jobs. My construction work was for friends…..kind of favours like you would do for any friend. Also inspected the odd house. The flying jobs allowed other people to also have days off because otherwise they would be on call 7 days per week. Win win. The flying never seemed like work, it paid well, and also gave me use of the aircraft for personal stuff….like taking friends on fly in fishing trips. My first date with my wife was taking her on a scenic flight in a DHC-2 (Beaver) up Butte Inlet….BC Coast. My employers were great and I will never forget the opportunities they gave me. They picked up the tab for these extra fun flights and I paid them back with availability. I will be forever grateful.
My sister in law was in management at a large grocery store. Big chain. Her younger employees were mostly nightmares. Would blow shifts, and even get their parents to phone in for them with excuses. Some would say they were not available weekends during ski season. She was constantly replacing and training.
And the GD phones. Don’t even talk about them. You get a real strange look if you tell someone you will shove it up their ……… if it comes out again.
How do kids learn to work when their parents interfere for them? It starts in elementary school. Then they wonder why their kids want to live in the basement in their thirties?
Thank goodness the administration and supporters have kneecapped IRS via defending and doge.
BruceP
This occurs elsewhere. Before I had employer provided health insurance and before ACA, I had a safety net plan that was $8,000 deductible. I need blood work and am MRI. The insurance price was $2,500 and the cash price was $500. They said if I had insurance I had to use it. I guess the expression that it doesn’t pay to lie isn’t true as I saved over 2K. Blood work was also heavily discounted
If you live anywhere near Mexico this is an issue too. Cash price for a knee replacement across the border is almost exactly the price of your portion after SS in the US.
Personally, prefer the MX option as their isn’t some private equity firm pressuring the doc to get you out of s bed before ready, and nursing is a skilled job that attracts people who will at least wash their hands and not give you a staph infection.
I seem to recall, when I was self employed with a product and service business, that people in pyramid or ‘network marketing’ schemes were also ‘self employed’. I rather took offense to the categorization. It seems that someone who is fully self employed to fund a household and maybe an (skilled) employee or two is the exception with all the GIG stuff now included as well.
Gig work is just a new word for “self-employed.” 30 years ago, “gig work” wasn’t a commonly used word. Back then, a “gig” was what a musician had when they performed somewhere. There is absolutely zero new in this area except for the usage now of the word “gig” instead of “self employed.” Uber drivers just replaced taxi drivers. Taxi drivers were paid the same way.
“Uber drivers just replaced taxi drivers. Taxi drivers were paid the same way.”
Gotta disagree there. Taxi supply was regulated and a taxi driver could therefore be confident of some level of demand relative to the cost of renting the taxi for a 12 hour shift. Dynamic pricing and setting out your own capital and liability using your vehicle changes things meaningfully.
Your comment has zero to do with my comment about “gig work” being a new term for a type of work that has always been around and used to be called “self-employed.” I used taxi drivers and Uber drivers as an example to show that they both get paid for driving and get tips. I said: “Taxi drivers were paid the same way.”
Not: “the same amount.”
You just changed the topic to a new topic: who makes more money, a taxi driver or an Uber driver?
@Wolf
Taxi drivers have been classified historically as w2 employees, either employed by the taxi company (remember DeNiro is interviewed at the start of Taxi Driver) or their own registered company. Same for limo drivers or independent truckers. As a w2 employee, many labor regulations, such as minimum wage laws, apply.
Uber classifies drivers drivers as 1099 contractors, arguing that they control their own schedules, not Uber, though Uber does control the rates the contractor is allowed to charge. I can see both sides legally.
California has been at the forefront of challenging this classification schema, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve written about it.
You’re getting a big part of your comments from AI, and that’s logical since you’re the self-described kind of AI. But AI can lead you astray.
This is not from AI:
“The classification of taxi drivers as either employees or independent contractors is a complex legal issue, varying widely depending on jurisdiction, company structure, and specific contractual agreements….”
“Control Over Work: The degree of control a taxi company exercises over a driver’s work is a crucial factor. Does the company dictate specific routes, schedules, or customer interactions? Do they require drivers to wear uniforms or adhere to strict grooming standards? High levels of control tend to suggest an employer-employee relationship.
Financial Investment.”
But the above items are rarely the case in the US. Taxi drivers wear uniforms? 🤣
“Another important factor is who invests in the tools and equipment necessary for the job. If the driver owns the taxi, pays for its maintenance and insurance, and bears the financial risk of operating the vehicle, it leans towards independent contractor status. However, if the company provides the vehicle and covers these expenses, it strengthens the argument for employee status.
“Opportunity for Profit and Loss: Independent contractors typically have the opportunity to increase their profits or suffer losses based on their own efforts and efficiency. If a taxi driver’s income is solely determined by the number of fares they collect, and they bear the risk of slow periods or vehicle downtime, it suggests independent contractor status. However, if their income is a fixed wage or salary, regardless of performance, it points towards employee status.”
Taxi drivers in the US with “fixed wage or salary” 🤣
https://parkingday.org/are-taxi-drivers-employees-or-contractors/
Do your own research instead of using AI 100% of them time.
I was surprised by the fact that “gig” work or as you rightfully said “self employment” was in a seemingly long term decline. What do you think accounts for that?
My theory is – having gone through this myself – that the cost of healthcare for self-employed people has been a strong incentive to get a salary job at a company that offers it, even if you don’t like the job and would rather be self-employed. With a married couple, one could get family coverage at his/her employer, and the other is self-employed with healthcare on that family plan. That works well. But if neither works for a company with healthcare, or if a person is single, healthcare costs are a huge impediment to self-employment, especially when you get older (premiums are even higher) before you get on Medicare.
There are probably other reasons too, but that has got to be the biggie.
Self-employment has lots of advantages if you have a good thing going — not talking about driving for Uber here, but some highly-paid professional activity such as consulting, some well-paid job in the trades, handyman, etc. But the cost of health insurance can outweigh those advantages.
I know many….
very hard working people…and
many very lazy people….
Both the hard working and lazy people that I have come across, know, or had as employees are represented by all generations and all other demographics.
It is not just as simple as the youngsters suck as workers.
Complete agreement Huck!
I meet so many great people with my business.
Alot of them are youngsters busting their *ss.
I train my competition for free ( I really want to retire!! ). Not just in the field, but the office & financial. I want them to do better than I, if/when
an 08 hits.
Alot of great talent out there. I wish them the best!
I wonder if part of this is correlated with the rapidly increasing expense and difficulty in acquiring healthcare for an individual. The only way to fully deduct healthcare as a self-employed individual is probably to make a single owner C Corp with all of that overhead, and in my area our healthcare providers won’t even ensure a single individual C Corp member as a small business “group”. How do you do it Wolf, you are in these statistics right?
Howdy Folks As a self employed entrepreneur ( had to use spell check ) since my teenage years, I would always run across those folks acting like REAL entrepreneurs. I would find myself bidding for contracts against the Local St Louis City Firemen and such. Makes me wonder how they got categorized ( Self Employed or not ) or if they filed Scheduled C or not. Oh Well,,, Pull up your bra straps youngins and take a chance. The prisoners with 2 percent mortgages should get a HELOC and take a chance????
Good Luck and Prosper
I voluntarily left my high paying corporate job with a desk in a high rise a few years ago to finish my basement because costs were out of control. Recently started my own handyman business (I am also licensed GC) and there is no shortage of people willing to pay $100/hr for me to show up and install grab bars, caulk showers, stretch carpet, fix fascia, fix drywall cracking, etc. Local branded services are $150/hr. I turn down any job that involves hard labor or too much risk (fixing wiring, over 2 stories, etc) and I am happy so far. Haven’t spent a dime on advertising and have steady referrals. I can start and end when I want, so long as I show up on time and respond to customers text messages.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Band)
Song: “Takin’ care of business;” 1973
Lyrics: “People see you having fun
Just a-lying in the sun
Tell them that you like it this way
It’s the work that we avoid
And we’re all self-employed
We love to work at nothing all day”
One of the traits we in the older generation should be passing down to our kids and grandkids is to constantly remind them to have a strong work ethic. This means to arrive early to start the work day, give an honest days work for an honest days pay. To do that, they need to put the cell phone down and away.
I have a grandson in college who got a job this summer at a feed yard. He learned to work in 100 degree weather fixing things at the place. After the first couple weeks he began to have a sense of pride in a job done to the best of his abilities. This past week was his last before getting ready to go off to college. His manager decided to give him a bonus for all his hard word this summer and complemented him on his hard work.
I know that not every young person may have that opportunity, but it starts with a willingness to start at the bottom doing grunt work and look around, rather being glued to a screen.
A hard work ethic can offset other personal weaknesses that can hinder a person in life and in the work force.
I am a firm believer in that.
And in my opinion demographics does not necessarily play a role…. Young, old, skin color, country of origin, religious affiliation….. it does not matter.
You either have it…. or you don’t
Self employeed for 34yrs, 32yrs for the Mrs.
We are a rarity in my area.
I have friends who are self employeed.
They all have spouses who are employeed for private, or public sector,for the benefits and retirement.
This is a factor: consistency.
For the moment both I and my wife were self employed, a lack of consistent income was stressful.
It’s probably time to give it another chance though.
I also found it difficult to attract and retain competent labor when I was working.
I did pay higher than average area wages and still found it a challenge.
I did have consistent work, and at times was booked out over a year.
As time went on I simply changed the work I did to accommodate working alone. I constantly used subs, and all of us confronted the same issues of labor scarcity and guys who would simply stop showing up. None of us were cruel – we were trying together them to stay! We did insist on high quality work because that was what our customers wanted.
And health care is a giant issue. I have always backed a single payer government run system. Health care should never be for profit.
I believe that if the US does adopt a single payer system, there will be a renaissance of self employment.
Private Equity won’t like that.
Oh, and yes I did work for cash. Maybe 25% of my volume was cash.
Not if I had an employee working on the job. No way.
But if I was all by myself, I was open to it. It’s amazing how many wealthy people are eager to avoid taxes. And who have cash.
I averaged close to paying $100k per year in taxes of various kinds.
I like roads. Schools and parks are good. I never minded paying taxes.
Wolf, what do you think about health care and a trade renaissance?
I totally agree with you: “And health care is a giant issue.”
Here above in the comments I was asked why ratio of self-employment to overall employment has been dropping for many years, and my answer was: health insurance.
My health insurance has increased 20-30 percent each year for the past 5 years. I have changed providers 3 times to avoid, but to no avail.
Hopefully someone somewhere can do something to relieve.
I think it might be partial unintended consequences of Obama Care. Conditions have seemed to deteriorate since its inception.