Article
Patterns of multiple jobholding in published labor data
Multiple jobholding — holding more than one job in a reference period — is one of the longest-running official measures related to side income. The concept is not identical to platform work, but researchers often discuss the two together when they ask how people combine paid activities.
Official BLS series
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes multiple jobholding rates from the Current Population Survey. Methodological notes explain how second jobs are identified and why rates move when definitions or survey procedures change.
Hipple’s descriptive work
Steven Hipple’s BLS publications describe characteristics of multiple jobholders in the official data, including industry and occupation patterns visible in the survey. Those descriptions follow the survey’s definitions rather than informal ideas of “side hustles.”
Lalé and related academic papers
Étienne Lalé and other labor economists have studied transitions into and out of multiple jobholding using panel structures. Their findings depend on how job spells are coded and on sample attrition.
Limits of this summary
Official multiple jobholding is not a complete map of all side income. Informal, unpaid or unreported activity can fall outside the series. This article describes published measurement choices; it does not estimate a personal rate for anyone reading it.