Inflation pushes record number of US workers to take additional jobs

Persistently high inflation and a relatively robust jobs market have led more Americans than ever before to work more than one job.

There were more than 8.76 million Americans with multiple jobs in January, an increase of nearly 6%, or about half a million people, from a year earlier, according to US government data. The number of US workers with more than one job has climbed by almost 3.4 million since April 2020, when employment numbers cratered amid pandemic shutdowns.

The rise of workers with more than one job reflects a labor market with employers still struggling to fill millions of open positions and workers looking to counter the rising costs of groceries, rent and other goods and services.

"A tight labor market and the rise of flexible work have made it easier to take on multiple jobs, while high housing and food costs have made it more necessary," said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

The share of US workers with more than one job climbed to 5.3% in January, matching the highest rate since before the pandemic, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the number of hours American workers are spending at each of their jobs is declining, falling from a peak of 35 hours per week in April 2021 to 34.1 hours per week in January, matching the shortest US workweek since 2010.

"We're in a period of structural change in the labor market," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.

A new global workforce survey from ADP Research found that, worldwide, 18% of employed workers had two jobs and 5% had three or more.

Very few of these workers, however, took second or third jobs because they were unable to find full-time work. In most cases, this was to cover necessary expenses or save for extra expenses, the survey found. In the US, for example, more than half of workers with multiple jobs said they took additional work to cover necessary expenses. Less than 20% said it was because they could not find full-time employment.

More workers are seeking second jobs as the Consumer Price Index, the market's preferred inflation measure, has risen for four straight months. The index increased 3% from January 2024 to January 2025, the largest annual increase since May 2024. In the US, 60% of workers are living paycheck to paycheck, the ADP survey found. That is tied for the 10th-highest rate of the 34 countries surveyed by ADP.

The share of employed workers with multiple jobs tends to rise when jobs are plentiful, a sign of a stronger labor market with increased employment opportunities, said Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

In an analysis of government labor data, Baker found that more than 35% of multiple job holders work from home for at least one of their positions.

"That strongly suggests it is largely opportunity since this option was much rarer before the pandemic," Baker said.

The number of people working multiple jobs will likely decline as employers reduce the number of workers who can work remotely, but for now the rise in multiple job holders signals a strong labor market, Baker said.

Inflation, weak income growth

Some of the rise in multiple jobholders may simply be a reversion back to the pre-pandemic norm, said Nicole Cervi, an economist with Wells Fargo.

From 2015 through 2019, the share of workers with more than one job averaged 5%. That figure increased in the run-up to the pandemic due partly to growing opportunities for gig work, Cervi said.

Nearly 60% of workers with multiple jobs have one primary full-time job and a secondary part-time job, according to government data.

Full-time workers may be increasingly adding part-time work due to the rising cost of living, which has been particularly hard for workers at the low end of the wage spectrum where inflation has remained strong and wage growth has significantly eased since peaking in 2023, Cervi said.

"As a result, weaker real income growth for lower-income households may be driving more workers to take on additional jobs," Cervi said.

Multiple job-holding is most common among prime-age workers, those between the ages of 25 and 54. The share of employed prime-age workers with more than one job was 5.8% in January, matching the highest share since 2004. It is also more common with women, at 5.8% in January, than men, at 4.9%.

Among races, Black or African-American workers, at 6.7% in January, were more likely than white workers, at 5.1%, to hold multiple jobs. Only 3.7% of Asian workers had more than one job in January and Hispanic or Latino workers were at 3.4%.

"Black workers' higher rate suggests economic necessity plays a major role, while white workers' high rate likely reflects both necessity and greater access to flexible side gigs," said Pollak with ZipRecruiter. "Lower rates for Asians and Hispanics may be due to longer primary job hours, greater job stability, or informal work that isn't captured in official statistics."