Split in Unemployment between Males and Females

According to a recent report, the recent decline in the unemployment rate for both males and females in the U.S. has come about for very different reasons for the two groups. Last month, the unemployment rate for adult males fell from 8.8% to 8.3% and 65,000 males entered the labor force because of the promising state of the job market. Although the unemployment rate for females has also dropped from 8.0% to 7.8%, this has occurred because 438,000 females have left the labor force in November. A possible explanation for this relates to the differences between industries that are normally dominated by males and those dominated by females. Males have typically had a strong presence in the manufacturing and finance sectors, and these are the areas that have faced higher losses as a result of the downturn. Men have therefore achieved greater gains in recent times as a result of efforts to add jobs in order to improve the unemployment situation. In contrast, women have normally been more dominant in areas such as education and health care – and because these sectors were not as strongly affected by the downtown, there haven’t been as strong of efforts to boost jobs. The fact that women have been leaving the work force connects to the historical argument of women being secondary wage earners, which was especially relevant in the earlier part of the 20^th century. Although times have changed, I find it interesting to look at the differences between genders in the labor market and how these dynamics are shifted in an economic downturn.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/02/news/economy/men_women_jobs/index.htm?iid=HP_River