HR outsourcing services typically don't discriminate between women and men when attempting to find new hires. However, it seems that women are becoming less prominent in the job force, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite the fact that women gained more than half of the 120,000 jobs added last month, the estimated size of the female labor force for those age 16 and older displayed an overall decline of nearly 340,000. Percentage-wise, female participation in the labor force dropped from 58.2 percent in October to 57.9 percent in November, the lowest rate since September 1993.
Heidi Harmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, called the decline "alarming," according to the Baltimore Business Journal.
The news source suggests it may be that more women with children have stopped searching for jobs, finding it more cost-effective to stay at home with their kids rather than hire a nanny or use a day care.
However, overall employment figures paint a more positive picture. The unemployment rate for women fell from 8.5 to 8.3 over the past month, while the male rate dropped from 9.5 to 8.9.
