Who Has Lost More Jobs - Men, or Women?

Sunday November 8, 2009

The Great Recession will hits its two-year mark this December. The past (almost) two years have brought us high unemployment rates, an alarming number of home foreclosures, businesses tanking, and catastrophic financial problems nationwide. But who have been hit harder, men, or women?

A November 6, 2009 blog post on the Center for American Progress reports, "Some of the hardest-hit groups are teenagers, minorities, those without a college degree or high school diploma, and unmarried women--many of whom are mothers or caregivers. The high unemployment of unmarried women, and particularly the 1.3 million unemployed female heads of household who are primary breadwinners for their families, is devastating to their financial circumstances and standard of living."

According to data released November 6, 2009 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The national unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent in October
7.3 million jobs have been lost or eliminated since December 2007
Between December 2007 and September 2009, 71.9 of the jobs lost were held by men. One reason for this high rate is due to the number of men who lost jobs in manufacturing and construction industries - which do not have a high rate of employed women to being with.
In the fall of 209, women's job losses have increased and woman lost more jobs than men in financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and information industries (where women were already underemployed).

Industries where women still hold more jobs than men: