September Jobs Report: Men Lose Ground in the Labor Market

Friday’s weaker-than-expected jobs report could look particularly bad for men.

Women have outnumbered men in the workforce for eight straight months since September, according to an analysis of government data by Indeed. This is the longest period since 2010, according to the job search platform.

“At the time, the gap arose because men were losing jobs,” said Cory Stahle, senior economist at Indeed. “This time it’s because women are winning them.”

Overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that U.S. payrolls increased by a net 29,000 jobs in September, lower than economists’ consensus forecast of an increase of 84,000.

Men accounted for just over half of the net job growth in September, according to a CNBC analysis of BLS data from Friday. A month earlier, men accounted for only 2% of payroll growth.

Despite the monthly increase, the seasonally adjusted number of employed men in the United States was about 1.2 million lower in September than a year ago. Women’s employment increased by more than 650,000 during the same period.

This divergence in labor market performance by gender can be explained in part by growing sectors, according to Stahle.

Health care, a key driver of the U.S. labor market in recent years, accounted for more than half of the overall payroll increase in September. Women represent nearly four out of five workers in the sector.

But the BLS said in its Friday release that health care hiring was slower in September than last year’s average. For this reason, women may not have benefited from as much momentum from the sector as in previous months.

The monthly contraction in payrolls in sectors with a higher proportion of female workers, such as government, also diluted overall gains for women during the month, Stahle said.