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Women left U.S. workforce last month, but in fewer numbers than a year ago

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A Wendy’s restaurant shows a “Now Hiring” sign up Tampa, Florida, U.S., June 1, 2021. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photograph

Oct 8 (Reuters) – The job market restoration for U.S. ladies confronted a setback in September, a lot because it did a couple of 12 months in the past after many faculty districts switched to on-line studying. However the drop-off within the variety of ladies working or on the lookout for a job final month was a lot smaller than in 2020 as extra colleges reopened this 12 months.

The information, included within the month-to-month U.S. launched by the Labor Division on Friday, reveals that girls proceed to face a lumpier labor market restoration after being disproportionately affected by job losses throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It additionally raises a query over whether or not the reopening of colleges, which possible contributed to this 12 months’s enchancment from September 2020, is sufficient by itself to slim a workforce participation hole between the sexes that widened throughout the pandemic.

aged 20 and older left the workforce in September and August of this 12 months, whereas 321,000 males in the identical age group got here on board.

That leaves the labor pressure for girls aged 20 and older down by roughly 2 million from February of 2020, roughly twice the deficit for males in the identical age bracket.

“Girls face large headwinds as they attempt to reenter the workforce post-pandemic,” C. Nicole Mason, president and chief government officer of the Institute for Girls’s Coverage Analysis, mentioned in an announcement. “It should take time to see how ladies navigate what’s hopefully a waning pandemic and what which means for his or her jobs and careers.”

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Nonetheless, the report was an enchancment from final 12 months, when the labor pressure for girls aged 20 and up dropped by greater than 1 million in August and September after many faculty districts reopened with digital studying solely, requiring many kids to check from dwelling.

This 12 months, extra ladies are returning to work as hiring resumes in a few of the sectors they’re overrepresented in and a bigger quantity for in particular person instruction.

However some moms are nonetheless that make it tough for them to work, together with amid a and short-term faculty closures in some districts with elevated COVID-19 an infection charges.

The tempo of hiring slowed additional in September, when the U.S. financial system added 194,000 jobs, following a acquire of 366,000 jobs in August.

Employment in leisure and hospitality, an trade that’s disproportionately staffed by ladies, rose by 74,000 in September. Nevertheless, hiring at eating places and bars was little modified for the second straight month.

The variety of new U.S. coronavirus instances has been declining since mid-September, a shift that’s anticipated to assist the labor market heal extra easily within the coming months.

Reporting by Jonnelle Marte;
Enhancing by Dan Burns and Paul Simao

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