About half were salaried or hourly workers who were not paid for their effort, the report said. The rest were either self-employed or salaried or hourly workers who were compensated.

The findings are from a supplement to the May 1997 Current Population Survey, a poll of the nation's labor force. The last similar report the department compiled was in May 1991, and since then the number of people doing job-related work at home has risen by 1.5 million. And the number who were paid for it almost doubled.

The number of people who simply "took work home from the office" last year without extra pay was 11.1 million, a slight dip from 12.2 million six years ago. Employees in the service and manufacturing industries were most likely to take work home with them and not get paid for it -- teachers most of all.