More Americans Are Working Multiple Jobs Than at Any Time Since 1999—Here’s What It Means for Your Wallet

Forget the 9-to-5. A record number of Americans are now hustling across multiple gigs—a level of moonlighting not seen since the dot-com bubble. The side-hustle economy isn't just a trend; it's a survival strategy.

The New Grind

What's driving the surge? Stagnant wages against soaring living costs. Traditional paychecks aren't stretching far enough, pushing people to patch together incomes from various sources. It's a personal inflation hedge, built one shift at a time.

Platforms and Paychecks

Digital marketplaces and gig apps fuel this shift. They offer flexibility but often lack the security of a single, stable job. Workers trade benefits for autonomy, betting they can out-earn the risks.

The Financial Fallout

This isn't just a labor story—it's a spending story. Disposable income gets fragmented. Saving becomes harder. Big-ticket purchases get delayed. The economy runs on consumer confidence, and juggling jobs burns both time and trust in the system.

Looking Ahead

The multi-job surge signals deep structural shifts. It challenges old ideas about employment, stability, and how people build wealth—or just get by. As one Wall Street cynic might say, 'The Fed targets 2% inflation; your second job is the real monetary policy.'

Key Takeaways

• In November, the percentage of workers with multiple jobs rose to its highest level since 1999.
  
• The uptick is likely because people can't make ends meet on their normal paychecks, as the cost of living rises faster than wages for lower-earning workers.
  

Here's the irony of today's job market: Hiring is slowing down, but people who are employed are more likely to be working multiple jobs than at any time since 1999.

That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which found that in November, 5.8% of working individuals had more than one job. That's the highest percentage of moonlighters since December, 1999, when 6% of workers held multiple jobs. November 2025 was up from 5.4% in the prior 12 month period.

Some forecasters expect that 5.8% figure to hold steady or increase Friday when December jobs data is released.

One possible reason for the uptick: For many workers, especially those on the lower end of the income spectrum, the cost of living is rising faster than their wages.

What This Means For The Economy

The surge of Americans holding multiple jobs is more evidence of the "K-shaped" economy, where higher income earners are thriving and those on the low end are struggling to get by.

"This likely reflects people taking a second job because they don’t feel they can make ends meet on their normal paycheck," Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research think tank, wrote in a commentary.

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