Cash-strapped Americans hit by high inflation are turning to second jobs to supplement their incomes
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More Americans are turning to second jobs as the holiday season approaches and inflation rates continue to climb, bringing plenty of squeezes.
A new jobs report for October from the Labor Department showed that the percentage of Americans who have part-time jobs in addition to their full-time jobs has increased by six percent from a year ago.
That number is equivalent to 4.5 million individuals overall.
In addition, employers added 261,000 new jobs last month. The number is the lowest since December 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Job growth has slowed steadily since around this time last year, with only 261,000 new jobs created in October 2022
While inflation has fallen slightly from a 40-year high in June of 9.1 percent, the 8.2 percent is still higher than at any point in the previous four decades.
More Americans are taking second jobs as the holiday season approaches and inflation remains high
Unemployment rates are currently hovering around 3.7 percent, up 0.2 percent from September.
“Since March, the unemployment rate has been in a narrow range of 3.5 to 3.7 percent,” the October jobs report said.
Wage increases rose month by month, but overall they were higher in October than in the previous month. On an annual basis, however, wage increases have cooled.
A recent Prudential Financial survey found that more than eight in 10 Generation Z and more than three quarters of Millennials said they have or are considering a second job.
The Wall Street Journal spoke to a man, Antonio Torres, 29, who took on an extra job washing dishes and cooking to supplement some extra income.
“I had to do what I had to do not to fall behind,” Torres told the publication.
The man said he has worked full-time as a asphalt paver for six years and this is the first time he has had to add a second income to make ends meet.
He told the outlet that the extra job brings in an additional $200 each week.
The rise in prices for average household items such as milk, eggs and butter has prompted many to consider or take a second job
A Qualtrics survey of 1,000 full-time employees found that nearly 40 percent were already looking for a full-time job and another 14 percent planned to do so.
“As budgets tighten, workers are looking for ways to meet the rising cost of living, including finding new jobs,” said Qualtrics Chief Workplace Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Granger in an interview with ABC.
In September, 7.8 million Americans are said to have had more than one job.
In addition, 440,000 Americans held two full-time jobs in August. That number is significantly higher than the 308,000 in February 2020.
Inflation and the economy will be the top priority for many Americans entering the polls on Election Day
In addition, more white-collar workers are looking for a second job because of high inflation and the increasing cost of living.
Jennifer Knippenberg of Kelly Services Inc. told the Wall Street Journal that only one in 100 white-collar workers has been looking for a second job in the past.
That number has risen astronomically, now at one in 30.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky also said recently his company is seeing an increase in the number of people renting out their homes. He attributed the increase to the uncertainty in the economy.
Research of Zippia showed that some of the most popular second jobs are driving for services like Uber and Lyft, renting out their homes and apartments, waiting tables and bartending, tutoring and mystery shopping.
The economy is a top priority for most voters in Tuesday’s elections
Just like during the Great Recession in 2008 when… [Airbnb launched]People today are mostly interested in earning extra income through hosting,” Chesky said last month.
“As the economy slows, I think people are looking for more ways to either earn additional income or get more returns from the assets they have,” he added, “so whether it’s second homes or primary homes, I think there’s a pretty big opportunity for us.’
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi echoed Chesky’s statements during a recent earnings call, where she said seven in 10 drivers say, “that one of the considerations when applying to ride on Uber was inflation.”
Khosrowshahi said the income earned on the transportation app “helps them to pay for their groceries, to feel more comfortable in an environment where real wages are quite weak relative to the inflationary climate.’
Biden got slightly good news earlier this week when it was announced that the country’s GDP grew 2.6 percent in the third quarter of 2022, the first time it grew since the fourth quarter of 2021.
A recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist opinion poll also found that nearly one in three Americans said inflation was one of their top concerns going into the election.
In September inflation was 8.2 percent, a decrease of 0.8 percent compared to June.
The June number was the highest figure the United States has seen since 1981.
President Joe Biden recently came under fire for stretching the truth during an interview claiming the United States was not experiencing record inflation.
A News Nation reporter asked, “You referred to the midterm elections as a choice rather than a referendum. Given record inflation, why should voters choose Democrats?’
Biden replied, “Since it’s not record inflation anymore, I’m bringing it down. Look what we inherited.’
While inflation has fallen slightly from a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June, the 8.2 percent is still higher than at any point in the previous four decades.
Voters told a Suffolk University/USA Today poll that inflation and the economy are the top issues facing them in the polls, with 36.7 percent preferring abortion, which Congress controls, immigration and crime.
Biden, however, got some good news last week when it was announced that the country’s GDP grew by 2.6 percent in the third quarter of 2022, the first time it had grown since the fourth quarter of 2021.
“We’re down $1.25 since the peak this summer, and they’ve fallen over the past three weeks as well, adding up to a real savings for families today,” Biden said.
“The most common gas price in America is $3.39 lower than over $5 when I took office,” he continued.
The average cost of a gallon of gasoline at the AAA site was $3.76 Thursday. When he took office, the average was $2.39 — or about half of what he said it was then — according to the Energy Information Institute.
Restaurants, grocery stores and deli owners are already announcing that they have been hit by the 2022 turkey shortage just weeks before Thanksgiving dinner as avian flu has killed 7.3 million birds
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com reported that Americans may have to pick a new centerpiece for their Thanksgiving dinners as turkey shortages and inflation rates rocked the US.
Restaurants, supermarkets and deli owners across the country have already announced they will be hit by the turkey shortage in 2022, just weeks before Thanksgiving dinner.
Businesses are struggling to get hold of turkey as inflation drives prices up and bird flu killed 3.6 percent, or about 7.3 million of the country’s turkey population.
Prices are up 112 percent for fresh skinless turkey breasts compared to last year, and frozen turkeys retail for an average of $1.99 pounds, up 73 percent. USDA reported.
“It’s a huge problem,” Adam Mesnick, owner of the Deli Board sandwich shop in San Francisco, told the… San Francisco Gate. “I do my best to find a product to replace it, but there really is no substitute for turkey.
‘It will be a poultry show for the rest of this year. Put a bird in the freezer for Thanksgiving, don’t tell me I didn’t tell you.”