This report profiles, for the first time, the national phenomenon of day labor in the United
States. Men and women looking for employment in open-air markets by the side of the road, at
busy intersections, in front of home improvement stores and in other public spaces are ubiquitous
in cities across the nation. The circumstances that give rise to this labor market are complex and
poorly understood. In this report, data is analyzed from the National Day Labor Survey, the first
systematic and scientific study of the day-labor sector and its workforce in the United States.