During the worst of Great Recession, the pain of layoffs fell disproportionately on men. But of late, the gender-hiring tide has turned.
Not that virtually all demographics did not suffer during the downturn, but many of the most savage cuts came in factories and other male-heavy sectors tied to manufacturing, construction, financial services and some real estate-related businesses.
For example, the AJC reported in July of 2009, when the recession had technically just ended, that: "The recession in Georgia has hit all demographic groups hard, but white men the hardest."
The conclusion was based on a report by the state Department of Labor.
"Not only have white men been laid off in much higher numbers than any other group, but they are now the largest group of workers receiving unemployment benefits in the state," said the Journal-Constitution in that story (no longer available online). "Before the recession began at the end of 2007, black women were the largest group receiving benefits."
By the summer of 2009, the number of males drawing jobless benefits had leaped 160 percent and the number of white males had soared by 211 percent. Jobless men accounted for 58 percent of all those receiving jobless benefits in Georgia, the Labor Department said.
As the recession began, there were about 3 million more men than women working. Now, there are about 400,000 more men than women on payrolls, according to the IWPR analysis of government data.
That lopsided damage could be one of the reasons that so many men are still out of the workforce – because they took early retirement, disability or simply gave up looking for work.
The unemployment rate has fallen from double digits. The number of openings has surged.
And as the economy recovered, it was service jobs – sectors where women were typically over-represented – that gained quickest.
During the first three-quarters of last year, women gained a majority of the jobs, according to the Washington-based group.
But according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, nearly two-thirds of jobs added in the last quarter of 2016 went to men. During the last three months, men gained 63 percent of the 495,000 jobs added.
Women's job gains were strongest in educational and health Services, leisure and hospitality and the corporate sector known as professional and business services. Men also did well in corporate hiring, as well as healthcare and retail, said the group.
Men continued to lose ground in manufacturing.
And even with the losses, men are in the workforce at higher rates than women: 69.0 percent to 56.7 percent. But of those people in the workforce, a higher share of men are out of work: 4.8 percent, compared to 4.6 percent for women.
Among men, blacks have an unemployment rate more than twice as high as whites, the group said: 9.1 percent to 4.4 percent.
In December, 54.35 percent of the new unemployment claims were from men and 45.65 percent were women, said Sam Hall, spokesman for the Labor Department.
