The U.S. unemployment rate fell under 4% for the first time since 2000, continuing a steady decline that started in 2010.
Despite the strong traditional job market, according to the BLS self-employment has increased slightly over the prior year and is also up from 2010.
We've also found in our research that the number of independent workers has also increased since 2010.
The relationship between the traditional job market and independent work is complex.
The impact of strong job market varies by independent worker segment and leads to increases in the number of independent workers in some segments and declines in others.
A strong job market means independent workers who would prefer a traditional job (we call them "reluctant independents") can more easily find one.
This is shown in the data on reluctants from the 2017 MBO Partners State of Independence study. The share of reluctant independents fell to 24% in 2017, down from 26% in 2016 and 34% in 2012.
So clearly reluctants are taking advantage of the strong job market to return to traditional employment.
At the same time, the strong job market means independents have an easier time finding work due to labor shortages. Independents can also charge more in a strong economy. This is especially true for independents with in-demand skills.
Because of these factors, we've seen an increase in the number of highly skilled independent workers over the past 8 years. And our early 2018 data (which we're still working through) shows another increase over the past year.
We've also seen a continuation of the strong growth in the number of Americans who work as independents part-time or occasionally. This reflects two issues with the jobs recovery that aren't good.
The first is middle wage jobs continue to hollow out. This means more people are "falling downhill" - losing middle wage jobs and replacing them with jobs that pay less.
Another problem is stagnant wages. While wages have picked up a bit over the past year, they've only gone up 2.6% in the past year. This is just above the rate the overall inflation and well below the inflation rates for housing, healthcare and education.
The combination of middle wage jobs hollowing out and wage stagnation means more people are picking up 2nd and 3rd part-time jobs as independent workers to make ends meet.
Most of these 2nd jobs are gig economy jobs. So even with a strong traditional job market, more people are turning to gig work to supplement their income.
Because of strong growth in the number of 2nd and 3rd gig economy jobs, we've found the total number of independent workers has increased over the past decade.
We'll have more on this topic once we finish the analysis of the data from the 2018 MBO Partners State of Independence study. We plan on releasing this study in a few months.
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