For just the second time in history, women outnumbered men as the majority of the U.S. paid workforce, buoyed by fast job growth in health care and education over the past year, as well as the ongoing tight labor market, The Washington Post reports.
At first glance, the shift is tiny and easy to miss: Women worked 50.04% of payroll jobs in December, up from 49.99% the prior month. But the figure reflects a larger, ongoing trend. Of the 145,000 jobs picked up in December throughout the economy, women won most of them—139,000, according to Labor Department data.
Zooming out, looking at all workers including farm workers and those self-employed, men still outnumber women. But women have been joining the workforce at a faster pace than men since 2018. Economists say this narrowing in the gender gap comes as women have been getting college degrees in larger numbers than men, which has radiated out to the job market as they reach higher ranks in the office.
The first time the share of women in the workforce crossed over 50% was in early 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Men were losing jobs at a much greater pace, as industries like manufacturing and construction struggled. That left more women working while men hoped to return.
Now, there’s a more permanent dynamic in play. Women are dominating sectors that are growing the fastest. Health care in particular was one of a few sectors that added more jobs in 2019 than 2018. Also, jobs in education and health services outnumber jobs in male-dominated goods production sectors. Mining, construction, transportation and warehousing also saw a slowdown in hiring last year.
A big difference between now and 10 years ago is that women today are getting a boost from technology that has opened the door to jobs that used to be considered men-only. Read the full story.
