Wednesday, Sep 7 2011 12:28PM
A new study found that workers in the western U.S. are more likely to have two jobs than residents in other parts of the country.
Scott Rickard, an economist at Montana State University, Billings, who runs the school's Center for Applied Economic Research, recently told the Billings Gazette that workers in the western U.S. are more likely to have two jobs than any other region.
Rickard researched data from the 2010 Census, and discovered workers in states west of the Rockies, including Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, were more likely to have two jobs.
At least 7 percent of each of those three state's residents had two jobs last year, Rickard told the newspaper. The national average for the number of residents with two jobs was 5 percent.
According to Rickard, the increased number of residents in western states with two jobs is likely due to a combination of low wages and the average cost of living.
The median household income for Montana residents in 2009 was $42,222, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture - well below the national average of $50,221.