Not only has this recovery been more rapid than that of the Great Recession, but the «she-cession» has turned into a recovery led by women.
Today’s monthly Jobs Report for April from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed continued job growth, moderating at a lower level compared to recent months, but at a healthy 175,000 jobs added. Not only has this recovery been more rapid than that of the Great Recession, but the “she-cession” has turned into a recovery led by women. In fact, the household survey, that asks individuals about their employment status, found that women gained all the jobs added in April while men lost jobs. But how far can a tight labor market take women workers who have historically faced significant barriers to full economic integration?
One significant sign of the tight labor market after the height of the pandemic has been a rise in labor market churning – or people changing jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has found historically high job openings, hires, and quits rate in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey in the past 3 years. In this dynamic labor market, wages between the top and bottom of the distribution have converged at a historic rate. Women and Black workers gained disproportionately: the gender wage gap decreased by 2 percentage points and the Black-white wage gap decreased by 5 percentage points in the last 4 years alone.
Despite the continued good news in monthly Jobs Reports and other economic data, it’s clear that the work is far from over.
