Women's Share of U.S. Payroll Jobs

## What this measures

Women's share of nonfarm payroll jobs: CES0000000010 ÷ PAYEMS × 100, monthly since January 1964.

## Why it matters

The share rose for five decades as women entered the paid workforce. It moves within a narrow band now, and recessions push it around: it rises when downturns hit male-dominated industries and falls when they hit services.

## How to read it

A tenth of a point is roughly 160,000 jobs at today's payroll level. Read it as a long trend; month-to-month moves are mostly revisions and noise.

## What it does not say

It says nothing about pay or hours. It counts jobs, so multiple jobholders count more than once.

## Source

Palanor calculation from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll data (CES0000000010, PAYEMS), via FRED. Public domain.