Jobs Report: Unemployment Rates For Men And Women Equal For First Time Since Recession Started

The economic recovery has been more favorable to men than it has been for women, and for the first time since the start of the recession, men and women are seeing the same rate of unemployment.

Of the 243,000 jobs added in January, 39 percent were filled by women, according to the National Women's Law Center. This translated to a 0.3 percent drop in unemployment for men and a 0.2 percent drop for women, with their respective unemployment rates leveling out at 7.7 percent. (This figure represents adult unemployment and falls below the nationwide rate of 8.3 percent, which accounts for unemployed teenagers.)

Women are trailing behind men in the economic recovery, claiming a mere eight percent of the 1.9 million jobs that have been added to the economy since the end of the recession in June 2009, a NWLC study shows. Unemployment rates for women have actually risen from 7.6 percent in June 2009 to today's figure of 7.7 percent, while men have seen unemployment fall from 9.9 to 7.7 percent over the course of the recovery.

The recession was originally dubbed "the mancession," with more men than women feeling the heat from the economic downturn. Men lost 70 percent of the 7.5 million jobs that were eliminated between December 2007 and June 2009. Some speculated that women may, for the first time, hold a majority stake in the nation's workforce, according to the New York Times.

Men are now earning back the jobs they lost in the recession, outpacing women and defying historical post-recession trends that have been favorable to women, according to the Pew Research Center:

Women fared better than men in the first two years of all other economic recoveries since 1970. Both women and men gained jobs, with women doing so at a faster rate, immediately after the recessions in 1969-70, 1973-75, 1980-82 and 1990-91.

It is not entirely clear why unemployment rates for women have increased since the start of the recovery. One reason may be that women are 50 percent more likely than men to hold public sector jobs, which have seen a net loss during the recovery. Men are also being hired in fields that have traditionally employed many women, such as retail, health and education, according to the Financial Times.

As men outpace women in landing jobs, they also continue to out-earn women. Though, women outnumber men on college campuses, and more women than men are being awarded doctoral degrees, women continue to be paid less than their male counterparts who hold equivalent degrees.

Women earned 78.2 of what men earned in median salary in 2009, according to the U.S. Census.

In "creative class jobs" the gender wage gap is particularly stark, as highlighted by the Atlantic:

Women hold slightly more than half (52.3 percent) of creative class jobs and their average level of education is almost the same as men. But the pay they receive is anything but equal. Creative class men earn an average of $82,009 versus $48,077 for creative class women.

Comments

[AustinG]

10:22 AM on 02/06/2012

So men and women are supposed to feel better if relatively their gender is doing better? Should a woman feel good because her husband was fired and a woman promoted to take his place? Beyond that there wasn't an increase in jobs last month. If you look at the raw data 2.5 million people lost their jobs. The "seasonally adjusted" number was what was up 200,000. All that means is that less people lost their job December to January than they normally expect. Yet even the President in speeches cites it as a real increase in employment. One can conclude that either he doesn't know the difference(unlikely) or he doesn't mind misleading the American people for personal gain.

[NobleTry]

11:09 AM on 02/05/2012

Part 3 of comment:

Finally you write:

"It is not entirely clear why unemployment rates for women have increased since the start of the recovery. One reason may be that women are 50 percent more likely than men to hold public sector jobs, which have seen a net loss during the recovery."

You completely gloss over this little factoid. Have you never wondered why 50% (50%!!) more women than men hold public sector jobs? (I can comment on this with first-hand experience because I'm a contractor with a federal agency.) There are more women than men in public sector jobs because all of the cliches that you've read and heard about public sector workers are TRUE! Women, generally, are comfortable with the bureaucracy, the slowness, the lack of creativity, the lack of accountability, and the stability, public sector positions provide. It's not really "work", believe me. I've seen 23-year-old girls updating their Facebook pages for hours on end in their public sector jobs! And their bosses are women who are nowhere to be found on a Friday afternoon!

So next time you feel like writing a lop-sided, misinformed, misleading, and propagandistic article like this, take note. There are still some men out here reading, watching, and thinking.

[NobleTry]

11:09 AM on 02/05/2012

Part 2 of comment:

This article also trots out the same old tired meme that "women earn 70-odd percent of what men earn." This statement has been proven patently false and misleading, over and over and over again. You have to factor in education level, job experience, job risk, hours spent on the job, etc etc etc. That the writer of this article trots out this misleading statement speaks to her (it has to be a woman who wrote this) willful want to avoid the truth and the facts on the matter.

Another thing: Ask yourself the really tough question. Which is: If you believe that men and women *do* produce equal work in a similar job, why do you think it is that the man might earn more? Do you *really* believe it is "sexism in the workplace"? That's all? Nothing more? You don't consider for a moment that men might work harder than women at a professional task, come up with better ideas, stay later at work, be more committed to the job....and *that's* why that man might earn more money? Because in the end he's actually worth more to the company?

[NobleTry]

11:08 AM on 02/05/2012

There is so much wrong with this article that it's tough to know where to start. But let's start with the provocative headline; not the headline you see on this page, but the headline you had to click to get here, which is: Was Friday's Jobs Report Good News for Women?

It's not just that this is a gender-centric headline, as one commenter pointed out. It runs deeper than that. Do this: reverse the genders and mull over in your mind if you can possibly come up with *any* scenario where you would see the headline: "Was Friday's Jobs Report Good News for Men"? You can't, because men don't think like this. That this headline is used in HuffPost is a symptom of the disease; and the disease is American Woman-centric thinking. Which has seeped so deeply into the consciousness of the average American woman that they don't "think twice" at seeing such malarkey. They just go right on reading: "Uh huh, oh yes, my my, where will women gain, why won't women gain, etc. etc." Men who do *not* see and admit that this type of female-centric/dominance really, truly exist do so to their own personal demise.

(to be continued...)

[IslamicPacifist]

03:10 AM on 02/05/2012

Why does everything have to be about YOU

What's good for men, is good for women.
And vice-versa
Why are people like you always so divisive?
If men get the jobs, he uses the income on his family
If women get the jobs, she uses the money on her family
It doesn't matter WHO has the job

[NWOslave]

06:30 PM on 02/03/2012

The last statement is pure propaganda. Why print such an outlandish general statement? Creative class jobs could encompass anything from decorating a vase to renovating entire buildings. Would you expect both of those jobs to get the same wage?

This entire article is an embarrassment. How any "reputable" news source could print this is beyond comprehension. The wage gap myth has been debunked so many time as to be laughed at by anyone with an ounce of common sense. Even the most recent government paper has said women earn 89% of men for the same work. It also states women work 89% as many hours. No gap at all.

Stop the propaganda. Print the truth.

[Skood]

09:16 AM on 02/04/2012

Sadly, people don't like the truth.

Women didn't say a word when the recession hit men FAR more than it hit women. That information was just used to further that whole "The End of Men" nonsense. Men are recovering more because they sustained more losses. This article is irresponsible.

[cristoballs]

05:44 PM on 02/04/2012

and from such a highly esteemed news outlet as the huffington, i have to say i'm shocked. never before have i read such a heavily slanted news storie on this site.:-P

[exclintonsupporter]

05:49 PM on 02/03/2012

We certainly still have a long way to go...but this is good news...moving in the right direction...

[ms silver 87]

05:36 PM on 02/03/2012

It's an outrage and a shame that discrimination that wouldn't be tolerated against a person's race or religion is still quietly permissible if you happen to be a woman. Women make up the majority of the US population but in many respects we're still treated like second class citizens. Things aren't going to change until we get more women in positions of power and I'm not talking about Michelle "Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands" Bachmann either.

[IslamicPacifist]

03:19 AM on 02/05/2012

Women as second class citizens are:
98% of Violent crime Victims, 96% of Workplace deaths, 90% of the homeless population, 75% of the suicide victims, are given 75% more jail time compared to men for the same crime, dies 7 years younger than men, Doesn't have an entire United States Department dedicated to them, and the government doesn't spend 3 times as much money on Women's health, Men are given custody of their children 89% of the time

No.
wait.
I think it's the other way around...

[ms silver 87]

05:24 PM on 02/06/2012

WOW! Those percentages sure are eye-opening! If they're true.

No.
Wait.
There's not.

Let's go through them one by one, shall we?

Violent Crime- Victims are 50% male, 50% female. However, an overwhelming 81% of violent crime offenders are male according to FBI arrest data from 2009. And here's the link to the victims data:
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus0801.pdf (pg 14, Table 2)

Workplace deaths- Actually 92% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics but let's not quibble. But then again high-risk professions such as meat processing and construction are exclusively all-male so what do you expect.

Homeless population- Men make up two-thirds of the single homeless population BUT women, single mothers with children, make up two-thirds of homeless families.
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/who.html

Jail Time- Yes, women do, on average, receive lighter sentences for the same crime than men but that's because of the biases of the sentencing judge. And men make up 75% of all federal and state judgeships.
http://www.albany.edu/womeningov/judgeships_report_final_web.pdf

[ms silver 87]

05:30 PM on 02/06/2012

Life expectancy- Women live on average 5, not 7 years longer. 80 years versus 75 for men in the US. But life expectancy is higher across the board in every country, even in countries with extreme female oppression such as Saudi Arabia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health- An OFFICE, not the whole department.

NIH budget- 14% goes to women's health, 7% to men's. A small gesture to make up for over 50 years of medical research focused almost exclusively on men.

Divorce custody- 82%, not 89%. But in families where women are the primary wage-earner, fathers receive custody 50% of the time.
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/more-fathers-getting-custody-in-divorce/

Next time I suggest your research extends beyond spouting the faulty claims of whatever sexist, right-wing site you happen to frequent.

[urface]

04:49 PM on 02/03/2012

There's your equality.