August 20, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Much variation in women's employment across metropolitan areas

The proportion of women with jobs varied greatly across metropolitan areas in 1997. In some areas, the employment-population ratio of women was well below the national average of 56.8 percent, while in other areas it was well above.

[Chart data—TXT]

The two largest metropolitan areas in the country were among the areas with the lowest proportions of women who worked for pay in 1997. In the New York metropolitan area, 46.7 percent of women had jobs, while in Los Angeles, the proportion was 50.9 percent.

In contrast, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, more than two-thirds (67.5 percent) of women were employed. Other metropolitan areas with relatively high levels of employment were San Francisco, where 65.0 percent of women worked for pay, and Seattle, where 64.4 percent of women were employed.

These data on employment are a product of the Current Population Survey. Additional information is available from Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment, 1997 (PDF, 966K), (BLS Bulletin 2515).