Gender and Employment in the Recession

A recent article by Pew Research Center discusses Bureau of Labor Statistics and Current Employment Statistics (CES), which both show a gap between men and women's employment rates during the recession and in the last two years of economic recovery. According to the data, women seemed to fare better during the recession (from 2007 to 2009), losing only 2,139,000 jobs compared to the 5,351,000 jobs men lost during the same time period. During the post-recession period (from 2009 to 2011), however, men gained 768,000 jobs while women lost 218,000 jobs. Men fared better in all sectors of the economy, most notably retail. The only exception in which women gained jobs while men lost them was the state government sector. However, this article points out that "during the full arc" of the recession (2007 to 2011), men have been hit harder than women (men's unemployment rates went from 5.1% to 9.5% while women's unemployment rate went from 4.9% to 8.5%).

cf