Washington -- The number of Americans working multiple jobs to make ends meet stayed steady in 2007 compared with the year before, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says.

Nationally, 5.2 percent of American workers held at least a second job last year, the same percentage as in 2006, The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported Saturday.

While 26 states and the District of Columbia experienced decreases in their multiple job-holding rates in 2007 compared with a year earlier, 20 states recorded increases. Four states reported no change.

Overall, 28 states had higher multiple job-holding rates than the national average, the newspaper reported.

South Dakota had the highest percentage of workers holding multiple jobs at 10.2 percent, followed by Nebraska (9.7 percent), Vermont (9.4 percent), Kansas (8.9 percent), Iowa (8.9 percent), and North Dakota and Minnesota (8.7 percent).

Does the thought of writing a five-figure tuition check make you feel a little light-headed and queasy, like a nervous teenager on Mountain Dew taking a college entrance exam? If so, just imagine paying for a dozen years of private schooling before the college bills come due.

Washington -- First-time applications for state unemployment benefits have registered their first increase in six weeks, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.