March 26, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Women's unemployment rate rose less than men's in 2002

Adult women fared somewhat better in the labor force than adult men or teenagers in 2002.

[Chart data—TXT]

The unemployment rate for women increased from 5.0 percent to 5.2 percent between the fourth quarter of 2001 and 2002. The rate for men was also 5.0 in the last quarter of 2001, but it then rose to 5.5 percent over the year. The rate for teenagers was the same at the end of 2002 as it was the previous year—15.8 percent.

In addition, employment among women rose by nearly 500,000 over the year, while there was a decline of nearly 100,000 among men and the employment level of teenagers fell by over 300,000. 

By the end of the year, the number of unemployed women had edged up by 166,000, but joblessness increased by more than twice this amount among men. The number of unemployed teenagers declined slightly, due in large part to a drop in teen labor force participation.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information on labor market trends in 2002, see "U.S. labor market in 2002: continued weakness," Monthly Labor Review, February 2003.