Technical Note
The data presented in this news release were collected through a supplement to the July 2023 Current
Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 eligible households that provides data on
employment and unemployment for the nation. The CPS is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The July 2023 supplement obtained information from workers on whether they held contingent
jobs—jobs that are temporary or expected to last only a limited period of time—and whether they had
alternative employment arrangements (working as independent contractors, as on-call workers,
through temporary help agencies, or through contract firms). Contingent and alternative employment
arrangements are measured separately. A person in an alternative employment arrangement may or may
not be contingent. Likewise, a person in a contingent job may or may not be in an alternative
employment arrangement.
Supplement questions were asked of all employed people except unpaid family workers. In this news
release, wage and salary workers exclude the incorporated self-employed. The self-employed in this news
release refer to both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
In 2023, supplement questions were added about the second job of multiple jobholders. Questions were
asked separately for main and second jobs. In July 2023, about 5 percent of employed people were
multiple jobholders. The vast majority (more than 90 percent) of multiple jobholders only have two jobs.
However, for the small share of multiple jobholders with more than two jobs, the status of jobs beyond
the second job is unknown.
Additional information, including articles and archived news releases, is available online at
www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#contingent. Answers to frequently asked questions are available
online at www.bls.gov/cps/labor-force/contingent-and-alternative-arrangements-faqs-2023.htm.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications
relay services.
Concepts and definitions
Information about general employment and earnings concepts in the CPS is available on the BLS website
at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cps/concepts.htm.
Defining contingent jobs and the contingent rate. Contingent jobs are those that people do not expect to
last or are temporary. Workers in these jobs do not have an implicit or explicit contract for ongoing employment.
If a person does not expect a job to continue for personal reasons, such as retirement or returning to school,
that job is not considered contingent.
To determine their contingent status, wage and salary workers are asked:
1. Some people are in temporary jobs that last for a limited time or until the completion of a project.
Is your job temporary?
2. Provided the economy does not change and your job performance is adequate, can you continue to work for
your current employer as long as you wish?
Wage and salary workers who answered either “yes” to the first question or “no” to the second question were
asked follow-up questions to determine the reason why their job is temporary. Answers to these questions
distinguish workers who are in temporary jobs from those who, for personal reasons, are temporarily holding
jobs that offer the opportunity of ongoing employment. The questions ask if a person is working only until the
completion of a specific project, temporarily replacing another worker, being hired for a fixed time period,
filling a seasonal job that is available only during certain times of the year, or if other business conditions
dictate that the job is short term. Jobs that are temporary for one of these reasons are contingent.
For example, a person hired for 6 months to replace a teacher on paternity leave and a person hired to work
in a company's shipping department for the holiday season would both be considered to have contingent jobs.
In contrast, students holding jobs at fast-food restaurants while in school might view their jobs as temporary
if they intend to leave them at the end of the school year. The jobs themselves, however, would be filled by
other workers once the students leave, and thus, the students’ jobs are not contingent.
The self-employed and independent contractors are not asked if their job is temporary; these workers’ jobs are
classified as contingent if they have been self-employed (or an independent contractor) in that job for a year
or less and expect to continue being self-employed (or an independent contractor) for an additional year or less.
Contingent work, which is determined by expectations about the duration of a person's job, is a separate
concept from alternative employment arrangements. A worker can be both in a contingent job and working in an
alternative arrangement on that same job, but this is not automatically the case.
The contingent rate is the percent of employed people who are in contingent jobs.
Defining alternative employment arrangements. Alternative employment arrangements are determined by the
workers’ relationship to their employer. To provide estimates of the number of workers in alternative employment
arrangements, the supplement includes questions about whether individuals are paid by a temporary help agency or
contract company, or whether they are on-call workers or independent contractors.
Definitions of the four alternative employment arrangements follow, as well as the key questions used to
identify workers in each category:
Independent contractors are those who are identified as independent contractors, consultants, or freelance workers
in the supplement, regardless of whether they are identified as wage and salary workers or self-employed in the
basic monthly CPS labor force status questions. Those identified as self-employed (incorporated and unincorporated)
are asked a question to distinguish independent contractors from business operators such as a restaurant owner:
"Are you self-employed as an independent contractor, independent consultant, freelance worker, or something else
(such as a shop or restaurant owner)?" Those identified as wage and salary workers in the basic CPS are asked,
"Last week, were you working as an independent contractor, an independent consultant, or a freelance worker?"
On-call workers are called into work only when they are needed. This category includes workers who answer "yes" to
the question, "Some people are in a pool of workers who are ONLY called to work as needed, although they can be
scheduled to work for several days or weeks in a row, for example, substitute teachers and construction workers
supplied by a union hiring hall. These people are sometimes referred to as ON-CALL workers. Were you an ON-CALL
worker last week?" Only wage and salary workers were asked about on-call work; the self-employed, both
incorporated and unincorporated, were excluded.
Temporary help agency workers are those who are paid by a temporary help agency. This category includes
workers who say their job is temporary and answer "yes" to the question, "Are you paid by a temporary help
agency?" Also included are workers who say their job is not temporary and answer affirmatively to the question,
"Even though you told me your job is not temporary, are you paid by a temporary help agency?" Temporary help
agency workers include both the permanent staff of the agencies and those who are placed with other companies
in temporary assignments.
Workers provided by contract firms are those who work for a contract company, are usually assigned to only
one customer, and usually work at that customer's worksite. This refers to individuals who are employed by firms
who contract out their workers or their workers' services, rather than all workers employed by firms that
provide services under contract, such as advertising agencies and law firms. This category includes workers
who answer "yes" to the question, "Some companies provide employees or their services to others under contract.
A few examples of services that can be contracted out include security, food service, medical care, health
services, or computer programming. Did you work for a company that contracts out you or your services last week?"
These workers also responded "no" to the question, "Are you usually assigned to more than one customer?"
Finally, these workers responded "yes" to the question, "Do you usually work at the customer's worksite?"
Comparability of the estimates
Previous supplements that included questions about contingent work and alternative work arrangements
were collected in February of 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, and May of 2017. The overall concepts of
contingent and alternative arrangements remain the same in the July 2023 supplement. However, the July
2023 supplement questions were modified from questions used in earlier years. More information about
changes to the supplement are available online at
www.bls.gov/cps/labor-force/contingent-and-alternative-arrangements-faqs-2023.htm.
There are a few issues that could affect the comparability of the 2023 estimates with those from prior years.
The primary issue is that the 2023 supplement was collected in July, whereas the 2017 supplement was
collected in May and supplements for prior years were collected in February. The seasonality of contingent
jobs and alternative employment arrangements is not known. However, any seasonality may affect the number
and composition of contingent jobs or those in alternative arrangements. For example, a seasonal job that
is only available at a certain time each year counts as a contingent job. The number and types of seasonal
jobs might differ in February, May, and July.
Data presented in this news release is not strictly comparable with those for earlier years
due to several other methodological issues. Comparability of estimates over time is affected by the
introduction of population controls and changes in the classification of industries and occupations.
Additional information about comparability of data over time is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather
than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from
the true population values they represent. The component of this difference that occurs because samples
differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its variability is measured by the standard error of
the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a
sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population value because of
sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.
The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons,
including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all
respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information,
and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.
Information about the reliability of data from the CPS and guidance on estimating standard errors
is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.
United States Department of Labor
