When the nation came upon the Great Recession of 2007-2009, men were hit with a greater job loss than women. With the economy back on the horizon, men were first to experience the job gains while women waited. While in the wait, women actually experienced a loss of jobs during the first two years of the recovery, while men continued to gain ground, according to a Pew Research Center report. Now that the trend has balanced itself over the past couple of months, women are gaining jobs roughly on the same level as their counterparts.
According to the most recent data taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the last three months of 2011, men and women each gained about 206,000 jobs. Heidi Hartman, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, said, “That’s definitely a new development.” Though encouraging, economist would still like to see a lower unemployment rate and larger monthly job gains for both men and women.
