(Bloomberg) -- It's a job market revolution: an estimated 10.3million Americans earned income through web-basedplatforms like Uber and Airbnb between 2012 and 2015. That’s morepeople than reside in the entire state of Georgia and amounts to6.5% of the total U.S. workforce.

So-called gig jobs, in which a person performs a task foranother individual often through web-based platforms, are ofteneasier to land, and help generate additional income whenregular earnings aren't sufficient, according to a new study by the JPMorgan Chase Institute.

Participants in this economy are typically younger, with the 25to 34 age group accounting for the largest part of the gigworkforce. They are more likely to be male, live in the West andhave an average median income of about $2,800 per month,according to the study.

The number of people earning income in the online economyover the three-year period of JPMorgan's study increased 47-fold.Labor platforms, including ride-hailing service Uber, that connectcustomers with freelancers have grown more rapidly than capitalplatforms like Airbnb, which rent homes and assets or sellgoods. Demand is also driving the growth as online service usebecomes more common.

Now, “most people would know they can get their groceries pickedup, they can get a ride from three or four different companies— things that only a year ago, only earlier adopters learned,”Diana Farrell, the institute’s founding president and chiefexecutive officer, said in an interview. “It’s becoming moremainstream.”

While the platform economy is getting bigger, there’s noevidence that people are quitting their primary jobs for this typeof work. Monthly earnings from online platforms were as muchas $530 or 33% of people’s total monthly income on average,according to the report.

A deeper drill-down shows that labor platform earningshelped Americans offset dips in their overall income, whileearnings from capital platforms only supplemented their existingpay. More than 60% participated in capital platforms in any givenmonth.

Those providing task-related services were more likely tohave lower incomes than average and live in the West. The samedemographic experienced the highest income volatility on a monthlybasis, the study shows.

The JPMorgan Chase Institute used a sample of almost 1 millionChase customers to analyze income patterns across age groups andthe income spectrum. It found that the vast majority of 18 to 34year olds saw a more than 30%t change in their monthly income overthe three years of the study. It’s not clear whether part-time gigslike driving for Uber or renting out vacation homes tostrangers is discouraging people from finding better jobs. Othershave also raised concerns about the lack of workplace protections oremployee benefits. But policy makers should take notice ofthese new dynamics as they’re trying to understand how the shiftingnature of work affects jobs and incomes, Farrell said.

“There’s no question that the ability to participate in theseplatforms has lower transaction costs than in the traditional''workforce, Farrell said. “People are finding it easier to get inand out faster and that’s got to be good.”

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