Arlington, VA— Each month jobs numbers are reported to provide insight into the status of the economy. A new report from The Stephen S. Fuller Institute reveals that with the rise of the gig-economy the nature of work may be changing, yet the way in which we monitor our economy has not. So, while job numbers are still a strong indicator of our economy, are they giving us the full picture?
Work in today’s economy is conducted in many different ways. It increasingly does not involve a wage or salary job, a single boss, or employment with a company. “Workers are looking beyond traditional structures for employment and income. For some, this means supplementing their incomes through consulting work that mirrors their traditional day job. Others are taking advantage of new opportunities, like Lyft and Uber. Many of us are familiar with this trend due to our own experiences in the gig economy, but it is difficult to quantify their impact using the data that we generally rely upon for economic analysis,” said Jeannette Chapman, Deputy Director and Senior Research Associate at The Stephen S. Fuller Institute at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University. “As technology enables more non-traditional forms of work, payroll jobs, the traditional measure of employment, may no longer be sufficient to tell us how work is performed or what is being done by whom in our regional and national economies.”
To gain better insight into how the changing nature of work is impacting the Greater Washington region, the report examined non-employer establishment statistics. This data suggests that the gig economy, self-employed and freelance workers, and independent contractors play a sizable role in the Washington regional economy. And, this role has been increasing. Between 1997 and 2015, the number of non-employer establishments in the Greater Washington region increased 78%.
On a national scale, the US has also experienced significant growth in non-employer establishments growing from 15 million in 1997 to more than 24 million establishments in 2015. The Greater Washington region outpaced US growth and that of most of the other large metropolitan areas. Of the 15 largest metros, the Washington region had the sixth largest increase in non-employer establishments between 1997 and 2015. Miami had the fastest growth, rising 141.7 percent and ranking third in terms of total number of non-employer establishments in 2015. Atlanta and Houston ranked second and third in terms of growth, respectively.
“It seems likely that growth in non- employer establishments will continue to outpace traditional wage and salary employment. As a result, the traditional measure of jobs will increasingly undercount the economic activity in the Washington region, and in the nation, and may mask shifts in the economic base,” said Ellen Harpel, PhD, President of Business Development Advisors, and co-author of the new report.
This report is the first in a series addressing how technology advances and changes in the way we work affect the future of the Washington regional economy and economies across the United States. To access the full report and analysis, click here.
The Stephen S. Fuller Institute
The Stephen S. Fuller Institute is the premier source for information and analysis of Greater Washington’s regional economy. Through consistent monitoring of regional issues and the economy, the institute is able to identify critical conditions and trends impacting the future vitality of the Washington region’s economy. The institute is led by longtime regional economist Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D. and is part of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. For more information, please visit: https://sfullerinstitute.gmu.edu/.
Business Development Advisors
Business Development Advisors (BDA) is an economic development and market intelligence consulting firm in Arlington, VA. BDA specializes in research that provides insight into the growth drivers of today’s economy, helps economic development organizations establish data-driven policies and practices, and enables smart economic incentive use. For more information, please visit: http://businessdevelopmentadvisors.com/.
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