Men vs. Women: Digging into the BLS Jobs Data

Inquiring minds are taking a closer look at Friday's job numbers, specifically household data employment trends of men vs. women.

Household Data Numbers in Thousands

Household Data - Men, 20 years and over
Category	Feb 2011	March 2011	Difference
Labor Force	78,795	78,764	-31
Employed	71,954	71,959	+4
Unemployed	6,841	6,805	-36
Unemployment rate	8.7	8.6	-0.1

The unemployment rate among men 20 years an older dropped only because the male labor force dropped by 31,000. Those employed barely rose by 4,000. Contrast with stats for women 20 years and older below.

Household Data - Women, 20 years and over
Category	Feb 2011	March 2011	Difference
Labor Force	68,802	68,898	+96
Employed	63,319	63,566	+247
Unemployed	5,483	5,332	-151
Unemployment rate	8.5	8.3	-0.2

The labor pool for women rose by 96,000. The number of employed women rose by 247,000 vs. 4,000 for men.

Thus, improvement in Friday's jobs numbers came entirely from women, at least according to the household survey. I will watch this statistic going forward.

93,000 jobs were part-time jobs as shown in the following table.

Part Time Status

click on chart for sharper image

For more on Friday's job numbers, please see BLS Jobs Report: Nonfarm Payroll +216,000, Unemployment Rate 8.8%; Thoughts on the Jobs Report

Please note that the headline number +216,000 is from establishment survey (payroll data), while the unemployment rate and demographic breakdowns are from the household survey (phone survey).

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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