US male employment recovered more rapidly in July, with two-thirds of all jobs added going to men, says the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). In July, men gained 141,000 jobs while women gained 68,000.
Despite the encouraging July job figures for men, there are still 392,000 fewer males in employment today compared to the last peak before the Great Recession, i.e. ninety-four percent of male jobs lost have been recovered.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised May figures, increasing jobs gained by males by 70,000 and reducing female gains by 50,000.
Much-needed boost for men
IWPR President Heidi Hartmann said:
“In recent years, the economic recovery for men has been much slower than it has been for women. While job growth needs to be accelerated for both men and women, this month was a much-needed boost for men’s economic recovery.”
Of the 2.6 million jobs that were added to payrolls across the United States from July 2013 to July 2014:
- 1,162,000 jobs (45%) were filled by women. The strongest gains were in the retail trade, professional and business services, education, and health services.
- 1,408,000 (55%) were filled by men. The strongest gains were in construction, leisure & hospitality, and professional & business services.
Long-term unemployment slowly declining
Of the 9.7 million American workers who were still jobless in July, 3.2 million, i.e. one in every three had been unemployed for at least twenty-seven weeks, usually referred to as ‘long-term unemployed’.
Long-term unemployed workers in July 2014 represented 32.9% of all unemployed people, compared to 37.2% in July 2013.
Female unemployment rose in July
The unemployment rate for American women aged 16+ rose to 6.2% in July from 5.9% in June. For men during the same period the rate declined to 6.2% from 6.3%.
Among female heads of households (single mothers), the unemployment rate increased by one percentage point to 9.1% in July compared to June. However, it is considerably lower today than the 13.4% rate registered in July/August 2010.
(Data Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
Although July was the 6th consecutive month of 200,000+ job gains, the overall rate (males and females) of growth slowed down.
