Women have outnumbered men in the U.S. workforce for eight straight months as of September, the longest such streak in over fifteen years.
That finding comes from an analysis of government data conducted by Indeed, the job search platform, which tracked the persistent gender gap through the latest reporting period.
“Back then, the gap emerged because men were losing jobs,” said Cory Stahle, senior economist at Indeed. “This time, it’s because women are gaining them.”
The broader September jobs report delivered disappointing results, with U.S. payrolls growing by just 29,000 jobs on net, well below the economists consensus forecast of 84,000.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the figures Friday, underscoring a labor market that continues to show signs of uneven momentum across sectors and demographics.
Men represented slightly over half of net job growth in September, a notable improvement from August, when men accounted for just 2% of total payroll growth.
Despite that monthly uptick, the seasonally adjusted number of employed men in the U.S. was lower by approximately 1.2 million in September compared with the same month a year earlier.
Women’s employment told a starkly different story over that same twelve-month stretch, rising by more than 650,000 jobs and widening the gender gap in the labor market.
Stahle noted that the divergence in performance between men and women can be partially explained by which industries are currently driving overall job growth across the economy.
Healthcare, a dominant force in U.S. job creation for several years running, accounted for more than half of all payroll expansion recorded in September’s report.
Women make up nearly four out of every five workers in the healthcare sector, giving them a structural advantage as that industry continues to expand its workforce steadily.
However, the BLS noted that healthcare hiring slowed in September relative to its average pace over the prior year, potentially limiting the boost women received from that sector.
Payroll contraction in industries with higher concentrations of women workers, including government, also diluted overall employment gains for women during the month, according to Stahle.
The data paints a picture of a labor market where structural industry trends are reshaping which workers benefit most from whatever job growth remains available.
Economists and policymakers are likely to watch these gender-based divergences closely in the months ahead as the broader labor market continues to navigate a period of slowing growth.
