Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Being male isn’t the certainty it used to be for securing employment. In 1972, 75% of men had jobs, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2009, that rate had fallen more than 10%, down to 64.5%. The percentage of women who are employed, 54.4%, is less than its peak of 57.5% in 2000, but is still higher than any year prior to 1994.
The percentage of men who are seeking jobs but are unable to find one is also at a high, based on records kept since 1972. The male unemployment rate in 2009 was 10.3%. As recently as 2007 it was only 4.7%. Although the unemployment rate for women, 8.1%, has also jumped, it is not as high as it was during the recession of 1982 and 1983 (9.4% and 9.2%).
-David Wallechinsky
Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity, 2009 (Bureau of Labor Statistics) (pdf)
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