Women's Bureau (WB) - Quick Facts on Women in the Labor Force in 2007

Women in the Labor Force in 2007

Of the 120 million women age 16 years and over in the U.S., 71 million, or 59.3%, were labor force participants—working or looking for work.
Women comprised 46% of the total U.S. labor force and are projected to account for 47% of the labor force in 2016.
Women are projected to account for 49% of the increase in total labor force growth between 2006 and 2016.
A record 68 million women were employed in the U.S.--75% of employed women worked on full-time jobs, while 25% worked on a part-time basis.
The largest percentage of employed women (39%) worked in management, professional, and related occupations; 34% worked in sales and office occupations; 20% in service occupations; 6% in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 1% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.
The largest percentage of employed Asian and white women (47% and 39%, respectively) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. For both black and Hispanic women, it was sales and office occupations--33%.
The unemployment rate for women was 4.5% and for men it was 4.7% in 2007. For Asian women, it was 3.4 %; white women, 4.0%; Hispanic women, 6.1%; and black women, 7.5%.
The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers were $614, or 80 percent of men’s $766. When comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24, young women earned 92% of what young men earned ($409 and $443, respectively).

The ten occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women who were full-time wage and salary workers were--

Pharmacists, $1,603;
Chief executives, $1,536;
Lawyers, $1,381;
Computer and information systems managers, $1,363;
Computer software engineers, $1,318;
Psychologists, $1,152
Physical therapists, $1,096;
Management analysts, $1083;
Computer programmers, $1074; and
Human resource managers, $1073

Women accounted for 51% of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. They outnumbered men in such occupations as financial managers; human resource managers; education administrators; medical and health services managers; accountants and auditors; budget analysts; property, real estate, and social and community association managers; preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers; physical therapists; and registered nurses.
Of persons aged 25 years and older, 28% of women and 30% of men had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher; 32% of women and 31% of men had completed only high school, no college.

The higher a person’s educational attainment, the more likely they will be a labor force participant (working or looking for work) and the less likely they will be unemployed.

For women age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma, 33% were labor force participants; high school diploma, no college, 54%; some college, but no degree, 66%; associate degree, 71%; and bachelor’s degree or higher, 73%.

For women age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma, their unemployment rate was 8.2%; high school diploma, no college, 4.3%; some college, but no degree, 4.1%; associate degree, 3.1%; and bachelor’s degree or higher, 2.1%.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, November 2007.