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The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed that women gained 155,000 jobs in September 2022 and have now recovered the net job losses they experienced in 2020. 263,000 jobs were added to the economy overall in September, meaning women gained 58.9% of the jobs added last month. This marks 21 months of consecutive job gains for women and means women now hold 85,000 more jobs now than in February 2020; by comparison, men hold 429,000 more jobs now than in February 2020.
Unemployment rates edged down across the board in September, but for women, this was because many dropped out of the labor force entirely, meaning they are now neither working nor looking for work, and thus are no longer counted among the unemployed. 390,000 women ages 20 and over left the labor force in September, which means 817,000 fewer women are in the labor force now than in February 2020. By comparison, 727,000 more men are in the labor force now than in February 2020. Women’s labor force participation rate was 58.0% in September compared to 58.4% in August, which is more than one percentage point below women’s pre-pandemic labor force participation rate of 59.3%. Women make up 100% of net labor force
leavers ages 20 and over since February 2020.
Note: NWLC’s monthly jobs day analyses are generally not updated after publication and are provided for archival purposes. Please visit our main jobs day page for the most up-to-date analyses.
