For 61 consecutive months starting in December 2006 and ending in December 2011, the monthly jobless rate for men exceeded the jobless rate for women, by as much as 2.7%. That 2.7% gap was a post-WWII record and took place in October 2009 when the male unemployment rate peaked at a post-WWI high of 11.4% and the female rate was 8.7%. In the aftermath of the 2007-2009 recession the female jobless rate peaked at 8.9% in November 2010, but remained a full percentage point and-a-half below the 10.4% post-WWI high in 1982. The recession's disproportionate adverse effect on male employment and unemployment rates compared to female workers gave rise to the expression "mancession" to describe that disproportionate effect.
Now, as of January, the "mancession" has officially come to end, at least for that one month, as the male and female jobless rates converged in January at 8.3%. The last month the two rates were equal was in November 2006 when male and female unemployment rates were both 4.5%.
Update: In terms of employment levels though, the mancession continues: male employment is still 3.2 million jobs below the pre-recession peak, while female employment is only 1.7 million jobs below the November 2007 level. Therefore, in terms of job losses, there's still a disproportionate effect on men by a ratio of almost 2-to-1.
Now, as of January, the "mancession" has officially come to end, at least for that one month, as the male and female jobless rates converged in January at 8.3%. The last month the two rates were equal was in November 2006 when male and female unemployment rates were both 4.5%.
Update: In terms of employment levels though, the mancession continues: male employment is still 3.2 million jobs below the pre-recession peak, while female employment is only 1.7 million jobs below the November 2007 level. Therefore, in terms of job losses, there's still a disproportionate effect on men by a ratio of almost 2-to-1.
"Now, as of January, the "mancession" has officially come to end, at least for that one month, as the male and female jobless rates converged in January at 8.3%"...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, maybe Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans has something to say about the unemployment numbers in general...
'Feminists' are already going around saying that since more men got jobs in the recovery, more government intervention to prop up women is needed.
ReplyDeleteNever mind that men lost far more than women in the recession.
An interesting observation: the Male unemployment rate jumped and then came down to present level. The female unemployment jumped but then has remained largely steady. What do you suppose that means?
ReplyDeleteI was hoping we would enter a period in which women did all the work and guys could go to football games and fishing.
ReplyDeleteSheesh, they want to be equal? Screw that, turn it all over to them, and let's shoot pool. Let them clean the sewers, fight in wars, fix the cars, pick up the garbage.
I think I need a massage----I have had a rough week.
Heh that was funny. Thanks, Benjamin :)
ReplyDeleteAll these guys returning to work is probably bad news for the online porn industry.
ReplyDeleteMarko: "All these guys returning to work is probably bad news for the online porn industry."
ReplyDeleteWhat, you don't think they have internet access at work?
are women more likely to have non-useful degrees? (read as liberal-arts / humanities)
ReplyDeleteIs this just a function of people with useful skills getting hired first? Is construction picking up and/or are skilled technician/manufacturing jobs growing? These are male dominated fields?
Let them clean the sewers, fight in wars, fix the cars, pick up the garbage.
hahaha, funny! Sounds like my domestic argument over why I don't like to do the dishes, clean, or change the poo diapers. I am fighting a losing battle.
Jon Murphy,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you suppose that means?
Easy. Read this article from Christina Hoff Somers.
Benjamin,
I was hoping we would enter a period in which women did all the work and guys could go to football games and fishing.
A lot of younger generation men have chosen to do just that. They learn to become pickup artists. More cads, less dads.
The government is responding by prepping for yet another round of anti-male legislation.
Christina Hoff Somers article :
ReplyDeletehttp://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/659dkrod.asp?pg=1
From RealClearMarkets.com:
ReplyDeleteBy The Numbers, "Mancession Ends".
Mark I am a fan of the blog. What I am not a fan of are conclusions drawn without any investigation of the numbers.
ReplyDelete"Now, as of January, the "mancession" has officially come to end, at least for that one month, as the male and female jobless rates converged in January at 8.3%"...
This is probably more a result of the male counterpart running out of unemployment benefits so they are removed from the governments tally of what is then a contrived and totally bogus account of the labor pool.
It is no different than saying employment expanded by 400K in January when 1.5 million were dropped from the labor pool from 2011 - GET REAL MAN. BE HONEST!!!