The capitalist economic crisis in the U.S. continues to tighten the squeeze on working people, with jobs — especially decent-paying, full-time jobs — becoming increasingly difficult to get. Amid high prices for basic necessities, from groceries to transportation, housing, health care, day care, elder care and more, increasing numbers of workers are working more than one job to try to make ends meet.
The number of employed with more than one job is at its highest level in over 25 years. This involved a record 9.3 million people in November, comprising 5.7% of the workforce. Those working two full-time jobs jumped by 18% in the past year, with women making up the bulk of that increase.
At the same time, many more workers who want a job can’t get one at all. This includes 6.2 million people the government categorizes as “discouraged” and doesn’t even count as part of the labor force. Another 5.3 million workers, nearly a million higher than a year ago, have had to accept part-time jobs, with less pay and few benefits.
In 2025 bosses laid off 1.2 million workers, up 58% from the previous year, while stepping up pressure for those still on the job to work faster and produce more. The capitalist rulers in their drive for profits have been making some progress in what they call “productivity” and we know as speedup. “Worker productivity grew at its fastest pace in two years in the third quarter,” reported Reuters, something “economists have termed a jobless economic expansion.”
The Wall Street Journal ran an article, “Slowest Labor Market in Years Leaves Job Seekers Stuck,” that described the workday of 40-year-old Monique Battiste, who lost her job in marketing a year ago.
Decline in industrial jobs
“By 4:30 a.m., she arrives at a client’s Dallas apartment to lead an hour-long personal training session. She speeds home by 6 a.m., takes her 10-year-old daughter to school, tries to nap, then logs online at 9 a.m. to work as a part-time marketing assistant. At 3 p.m., she is back to school to pick up her daughter. She prepares dinner, then hurries to an Amazon warehouse for a 6 1/2–hour shift sorting, scanning and hefting bulky items. Her workday ends at 10:30 p.m.” The Journal also talked to Glenn Jones, who worked in sales until he was laid off in May 2024. Since then he’s worked a variety of gigs and applied for over 1,000 jobs, but hasn’t gotten a bite. He said he applied for a job delivering food for DoorDash, but they put him on a waiting list, saying there were too many people in his area looking for driving jobs there.
Jobs in manufacturing are particularly hard to get. Some 8,000 manufacturing jobs were cut in December alone, marking the eighth straight month of losses. Since 2023, some 200,000 manufacturing jobs have been eliminated.
Throughout 2025 virtually all the available jobs were in four areas: health care, education, hotels and restaurants, jobs with low pay and few benefits.
In the beginning of this year, workers in 19 states, as well as 49 cities and counties, got raises to at least $15 per hour, a product of earlier struggles by workers and the unions. “For the first time,” the New York Times said, “more Americans will earn a minimum wage of $15 or more than will earn the federal minimum of $7.25.”
But $15 an hour buys far less today than when that fight began. Prices for everyday expenses have risen over 25% over the past several years.
To get by, more and more workers are going into debt. In the last two months of 2025, working people spent a record $20 billion on “buy now, pay later” schemes. “For many people, ‘buy-now-pay-later’ has become ‘buy-then-pay-now,’” reported Market Watch.
The companies offering these plans profit by enticing workers to purchase items even if they can’t afford them by promising they can take them home now and pay for it in the future. But the penalties get steep if you miss a payment. A late fee is added on and a higher interest starts accumulating on the outstanding balance. You can find yourself going deeper and deeper in debt.