The US job market has never been as bad as it is right now

The US job market is collapsing, and the numbers prove it. More Americans are juggling multiple jobs than at any time in the last 15 years, and even a college degree isn’t enough to secure financial stability.

A record 8.9 million people—5.4% of all employed workers—are working more than one job, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the highest rate since April 2009, when the Great Recession forced millions into overemployment.

The economy isn’t slowing down, but paychecks aren’t keeping up. Wages have barely moved while the cost of living has skyrocketed. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that over 50% of multiple jobholders in 2024 had a college degree, a jump from 45.1% in 2019. Americans aren’t working extra jobs because they want to—they’re doing it because they can’t survive on just one salary.

Americans are working more but earning almost nothing extra

Stephen Gilliam, a 45-year-old graphic designer in Augusta, Georgia, works 40 hours a week for a government contractor. That’s not enough to pay the bills, so after dinner, he spends his evenings freelancing as a movie poster designer. Most nights, he works until 10 p.m., sleeps for a few hours, and then does it all again.

“There are good and bad weeks, but I do my best to try to find that balance,” he said. Balance is a luxury many Americans no longer have.

A full-time job used to be enough to support a middle-class life. That’s no longer true. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that the average overemployed worker makes just $57,865 a year. That’s barely more than the $56,965 average salary of someone working a single job. Two jobs, almost no extra money.

Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners, put it simply: “You have to work a lot harder to make ends meet.”

“If you’re going to try to have some semblance of a traditional life with kids, and a house and transportation, [it] takes a lot of money to do that,” she said. Wages haven’t caught up with inflation, and essentials like housing are getting more expensive every year.

The data backs this up. The average US workweek shrank to 34.1 hours in February, down from 34.3 a year ago. That may seem small, but when millions of workers see even an hour cut from their paychecks, it adds up fast.

Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, explained the situation: “If employers are seeing soft demand for labor and cutting hours, that’s another reason why people are taking on additional jobs to fill the week and to fill their bank accounts.”

Restaurants and small businesses are slashing jobs

Not every industry is struggling, but hospitality and food service are taking massive hits. Restaurants cut 27,500 jobs in February, after already slashing 29,500 jobs in January. That’s the worst two-month stretch since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down businesses in 2020.

“Restaurant jobs often serve as an entry point into the labor market, giving people a leg up,” Pollak said. “The struggles of restaurants, it’s not a coincidence that they are accompanied by a decline in the participation rate. I think there are people on the sidelines who would be coming into work if that first rung of the ladder were strong.”

Small businesses, especially in food service, are struggling with high inflation and interest rates. Consumers aren’t spending as much, and businesses can’t afford to keep as many workers. The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending dropped in January for the first time in nearly two years, marking the biggest monthly decline since February 2021.

Markets are waiting on the Federal Reserve’s next move

With the US job market in chaos, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday. Investors and businesses are watching to see whether the Fed will keep rates high or make adjustments to help ease the pressure on workers and employers.

The February jobs report painted a grim picture. The unemployment rate increased, the labor force participation rate dropped, and the number of part-time workers rose. Companies aren’t laying off employees in massive numbers, but they are cutting hours and slowing down hiring.

Pollak summed it up: “It does suggest to me that some employers are cutting back on hours rather than cutting jobs outright, that the demand for workers is fairly soft.”

Wall Street isn’t optimistic. The S&P 500 has been volatile as investors brace for more economic uncertainty. The situation isn’t getting better, and if the Federal Reserve doesn’t act, things could get even worse.

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