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Multiple jobholder rates are the highest they’ve been since the Great Recession

5.4% of American adults were juggling more than one job last month — the highest share in over 15 years.

3/10/25 12:42PM

For more and more US adults in the current economy, it seems like one job is just no longer enough.

According to Friday’s job report, the number of multiple jobholders in the US surged to a record 8.9 million in February, the highest since data tracking began in 1994. That’s 5.4% of all employed workers — a level last seen in April 2009.

Multiple jobholders chart — Sherwood News

What’s driving the surge?

For starters, a single paycheck isn’t cutting it anymore: inflation has driven up the cost of everything, from groceries to rent to credit card bills, pushing more Americans to seek extra income. In addition, college degrees (even MBAs) no longer provide a straightforward route to an almost guaranteed steady job and salary, resulting in an increasing number of grads taking on multiple positions to get by. Per the St. Louis Fed, college graduates now make up about half of the multi-job workforce in the US, up from ~31% at the start of 1994.

Beyond the people who need more than two jobs, however, is a growing pool of side-hustlers, capitalizing on how it’s become a little easier to pick up some extra work. The rise of remote work and gig platforms have enabled full-time workers to clock in for second jobs at night or on weekends, according to The Wall Street Journal.

While Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently described the labor market as “solid and broadly in balance,” a record number of Americans trying to hold down more than one job is, to some, a cause for concern — especially with President Trump yesterday refusing to rule out an incoming recession and forecasting a “period of transition” ahead as he looks to reshape America’s economy.

Hyunsoo Rim

hardly working

5/27/26

Teens aren’t getting summer jobs like they used to — this year could be worse than ever

Teen summer hiring in the US might hit its lowest level since federal tracking began, new report finds.

Saleah Blancaflor

5/15/26

From Desi Arnaz to SpaceX: Understanding the rules of the modern economy

We talked with “Planet Money” author Alex Mayyasi about how AI might help or replace you, the superstar effect, and how the compounding effect extends beyond money.

Globes covered with various currencies suspended in space

Millie Giles5/8/26

Ahead of Mother’s Day, Google searches for “same day flower delivery” have ticked up a little earlier this year

If you’ve already made plans for a Mother’s Day gift in advance of this Sunday, congratulations. But if alarm bells are suddenly ringing, consider this a gentle reminder that, like a sizable share of the US population this time of year often does, you can still scrape together some last-minute flowers for the woman who carried you for nine months.

Data from Google Trends reveals that searches for “same day flower delivery” spike in the US in May every year, when Mother’s Day takes place. As we noted last February, the same query also gains traction around Valentine’s Day.

This year, however, it appears that searches for last-minute flowers have remained elevated in the last two months after the usual peak in February — with the search interest this April actually exceeding that seen around Cupid’s Day.

Honestly, we’re not sure why searches are spiking a little early. One explanation might be that Passover and Easter have overlapped at the start of April, and Americans wanted to celebrate with some flowers. Maybe it’s a host of Claude bots that are now running errands for AI-obsessed execs — or perhaps Americans are just impulse-buying some seasonal spring blooms after an unusually warm March, without a particular occasion.