<http://www.bls.gov/news.release/conemp.nws.htm>
Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, February 1999
Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 99-362
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, December 21, 1999
CONTINGENT AND ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, FEBRUARY 1999
The proportion of U.S. workers holding contingent jobs was about unchanged between February 1997 and February 1999, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Contingent workers are persons who hold jobs that are temporary or not expected to last. Using three alternative measures, contingent workers comprised 1.9 to 4.3 percent of total employment in February 1999. (See table A.) In February 1997, the estimates were not much different, ranging from 1.9 to 4.4 percent; in February 1995, the first year the survey was conducted, the estimates ranged from 2.2 to 4.9 percent. The period between February 1995 and February 1999 was one of strong employment growth and falling unemployment.
The analysis in this release focuses on the broadest estimate of contingent workers--all those who do not expect their current job to last.
The February 1999 survey also identified workers with alternative employment arrangements. There were 8.2 million workers (6.3 percent of the total employed) who were identified as independent contractors, 2.0 million (1.5 percent) who worked on-call, 1.2 million (0.9 percent) who worked for temporary help agencies, and 769,000 (0.6 percent) who worked for contract firms. Between February 1997 and February 1999, the proportion of workers employed as independent contractors declined, while the proportions employed in the other three alternative work arrangements were little changed.
From February 1995 to February 1997, the proportions in all four categories were little changed.
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