Women account for 98% of August job gains as male employment falls: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

The vast majority of job gains over the last year have gone to women, with women accounting for 98 percent of jobs added to the US economy in August. According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, the US added 162,000 jobs in August. Of those gains, 1580,000 went to women, roughly 98 percent of the total.

The disparity of women outnumbering men in employment has reached a record margin, as the number of employed women has continued to rise while male employment has declined. 12 months ago, the BLS found that the number of employed women had increased by over 870,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, whereas men have lost nearly 1.5 million workers during the same time period.

A report by CNBC noted that the outperformance among women may be tied to the industries driving employment growth. Healthcare, which is considered a major part of labor growth for more than a year, has continued to add positions. Four out of five workers in the industry are women. Similarly, local government and education sector jobs have increased, with nearly three-quarters of positions in the industry being held by women.

But women are also accounting for employment gains in traditionally male-dominated industries. An increasing number of women are receiving positions in sectors such as manufacturing.

Women surpassed men in total payroll employment for the third time in history earlier this year. The other two times this occurred were during the Great Recession and before the COVID-10 pandemic. Since December 2024, women’s cumulative payroll employment has risen by about 765,000, according to the left-leaning nonprofit the Economic Security Project. Men’s employment, meanwhile, has dropped by roughly 6,000.

This growing trend, however, comes amid a study from the US National Partnership for Women & Families that determined women are more likely to face disruption from artificial intelligence in the workforce than men. The study found that women account for 83 percent of workers across 15 occupations identified as facing the largest threat of replacement by AI. Among these roles are secretaries, office clerks, receptionists, and others.