WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Thursday it will present new data next week that will show 7.8% of the country’s workforce hold multiple jobs, a trend that has been on the rise during the past 20 years. In a statement, the Census Bureau said the data next Wednesday will also show that earnings from secondary jobs, on average, account for 27.8% of a multiple jobholder’s total quarterly earnings. “Multiple jobholding occurs at all levels of earnings, with both higher- and lower-earnings multiple jobholders earning more than 25% of their total earnings from multiple jobs,” it said. “These new statistics tell us that multiple jobholding is more important in the U.S. economy than realized.” The data could contribute to the heated debate on President Joe Biden’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour from the current rate of $7.25 by 2025. The Congressional Budget Office this week said Biden’s plan would take 900,000 people out of poverty that year, but also cut employment by 1.4 million jobs.