• 36.6 percent of persons aged 16–19 were either Hispanic; black; or Asian in 2007.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 1997 and 2007

CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE —Persons aged 16 and over who are working or looking for work.

• Total labor force--153.1 million persons of which 70,988,000 were women and 82,136,000 were men.

• Women made up 46.4 percent of the total civilian labor force in 2007.

Table 2
Civilian Labor Force, Persons 16 and over, by Race and Sex, 1997 and 2007
Racial Group	1997	2007	Percent Increase
Total Labor Force	136,297,000	153,124,000	12.3
White women	52,054,000	56,777,000	9.1
White men	62,639,000	68,158,000	8.8
Black women	8,175,000	9,244,000	13.1
Black men	7,354,000	8,252,000	12.2
Hispanic women	5,486,000	8,597,000	56.7
Hispanic men	8,309,000	13,005,000	56.5
Asian women	Not available	3,271,000	-----
Asian men	Not available	3,796,000	-----

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 1997 and 2007.

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE—the percent of persons in the labor force as compared with the number of persons in the population.

• In 2007, 6 out of every 10 women aged 16 and over were labor force participants, compared with 7 out of 10 men.
  
  
• 59.3 percent of all women were in the labor force.
  
  
• 73.2 percent of all men were in the labor force.

Table 3
Labor Force Participation Rates by sex and race, 2007
White women: 59.0%	Black women: 61.1%
White men: 74.0%	Black men: 66.8%
Hispanic women: 56.5%	Asian women: 58.6%
Hispanic men: 80.5%	Asian men: 75.1%

• Sixty-three percent (63 percent) of women age 16 and over with children under age 6 were in the labor force in March 2006 (up from 54 percent in March 1986).

• Sixty percent (60 percent) of women age 16 and over with children under age 3 were in the labor force in March 2006 (up from 51 percent in March 1986).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 2007 and the Current Population Survey, Annual Social Economic Tables, March 1986 and 2006.

EMPLOYMENT and UNEMPLOYMENT—67,792,000 women were employed as compared with 78,254,000 men; 3,196,000 women were unemployed compared with 3,882,000 unemployed men.

• Between 1990 and 2007, total U.S. employment grew 23 percent--from 118.8 to 146.0 million persons; between 1980 and 2007, total U.S. employment grew 47 percent--from 99.3 to 146.0 million persons.
  
  
• Over the past decade (1997-2007), roughly 16 million jobs have been created. Women secured nearly half of these jobs (48.0 percent).

• Multiple job holders totaled 7.6 million in 2007—3.8 million women; 3.8 million men.

• Of all multiple job holders, over half, 4.2 million (55 percent) were in married couples; 2.1 million (27 percent) were single (never married); and 1.3 million (17 percent) were widowed, divorced, or separated.

• Between 1996 and 2006, the number of dual-income families increased by 31%, from 25.5 to 33.4 million families.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 2007 and Annual Social Economic Tables, March 1996 and 2006.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE--the percent of unemployed persons in the labor force as compared to the number of persons in the labor force.

• The unemployment rate for women was 4.5 percent in 2007; 4.7 percent for men. The unemployment rate for teen women (ages 16-19) was 13.8 percent; for teen men, 17.6 percent.

Table 4
2007 Unemployment Rates, by sex and race
White women: 4.0%		Black women: 7.5%
White men: 4.2 %		Black men: 9.1%
Hispanic women: 6.1%		Asian women: 3.4%
Hispanic men: 5.3%		Asian men: 3.1%

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 2007.

FULL TIME/PART TIME EMPLOYMENT—Full time--working 35 hours or more per week; Part time—working less than 35 hours per week. 17% of U.S. workers had part time jobs in 2007.

• 121 million Americans worked on full-time jobs while 25 million Americans worked on part-time jobs in 2007.

• 51,056,000 or 75.3 percent of employed women worked full time; 16,736,000 or 24.7 percent of employed women worked part time.

• 70,035,000 or 89.5 percent of employed men worked full time; 8,220,000 or 10.5 percent of employed men worked part time.

• Women comprised two-thirds of all part-time workers—16.7 million workers out of 25 million.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 2007.

OCCUPATIONS-- In 2007, for women who were full-time, wage and salary workers, the ten most prevalent occupations were:

Secretaries and administrative assistants (3,289,000)
Registered nurses (2,411,000)
Elementary and middle school teachers (2,381,000)
Cashiers (2,285,000)
Retail salespersons (1,798,000)
Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides (1,659,000)
First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers (1,468,000)
Waiters and waitresses (1,464,000)
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (1,345,000)
Receptionists and information clerks (1,340,000)

Among women who were full-time wage and salary workers, here were the ten occupations with highest median weekly earnings in 2007.

Pharmacists ($1,603)
Chief executives ($1, 536)
Lawyers ($1,381)
Computer and information systems managers ($1,363)
Computer software engineers ($1,318)
Psychologists ($1,152)
Physical therapists ($1,096)
Management analysts ($1083)
Computer programmers ($1,074)
Human resource managers ($1073)

• Women accounted for 51% of persons employed in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations.

• Only 4.2% of all natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations were held by women.

• Women made up 45% of public administration (government) workers.

• Self-employed workers: 9.5 million—3.6 women; and 5.9 million men.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, Annual Averages 2007.

EARNINGS— Money wage or salary income, net income from non-farm self-employment, and net income from farm self-employment. For a more detailed explanation of earnings, please view the Census Bureau’s definition at http://www.census.gov/population/www/cps/cpsdef.html

• Median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers in 2007: women, $614; and men, $766.

• Overall, women earned 80 percent of what men earned when comparing median weekly earnings of all full-time wage and salary workers.

• The labor force is estimated to increase by 12.8 million persons between 2006 and 2016; about 6.3 million (49 percent) will be women.

• In 2016, women are expected to comprise 46.5 percent of the estimated 164.2 million persons in the labor force.

• During the 2006-2016 period, total employment is projected to increase by 10.4 percent from 150.6 to 166.2 million.

• Over the 2006-2016 period, employment in professional and related occupations is projected to grow at the same rate as employment in service occupations—both at 16.7 percent.

• Between the 2006-16 period, production occupations are expected to see a loss of slightly more than half a million jobs (528,000).

• Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations will decline by 29,000 jobs due to increased mechanization, rising imports of food and fish, and consolidation of the agricultural industry.

• The fastest growing occupations are dominated by professional and related occupations associated with health care and the provision of social and mental health services. Examples of these occupations are:

• Health related: personal and home care aides; home health aides; medical assistants; substance abuse and behavior disorder counselors; social and human service assistants; physical therapists assistants; pharmacy technicians; dental hygienists; and mental health counselors; mental health and substance abuse social workers; dental assistants; physical therapists; and physician assistants.
• Computer related: network systems and data communications analysts; computer software engineers, applications; computer systems analysts; database administrators; and computer software engineers, systems software.
• Personal care and service related: makeup artists; theatrical and performance; skin care specialists; manicurists and pedicurists.
• Other fast growing occupations: veterinary technologists and technicians; personal financial advisors; veterinarians; financial analysts; gaming surveillance officers and gaming investigators; forensic science technicians; marriage and family therapists; gaming and sports book writers and runners; and environmental science and protection technicians, including health.

• Rapid growth in health-related occupations reflects an aging population that requires more health care, a wealthier population that can afford better health care, and advances in medical technology that permit more health problems to be treated more aggressively.

• The fastest growing health-related and personal care occupations are already dominated by women and it stands to reason that women will continue to do so.

• The 30 occupations with the largest job growth are much less concentrated in professional and related occupations than the 30 fastest growing occupations.

• Examples of these are:

• Professional and managerial: registered nurses; general and operations managers; computer software engineers, applications; accountants and auditors; management analysts; computer systems analysts; and network systems and data communications analysts.
• Service related: retail salespersons; janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners; child care workers; maids and housekeeping cleaners; and security guards.
• Office and administrative support: office clerks, general; bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks; executive secretaries and administrative assistants; receptionists and information clerks; and customer service representatives.
• Health care support: home health aides; nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants; personal and home care aides; and medical assistants.
• Food preparation and serving related: waiters and waitresses; combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food; and food preparation workers.
• Teaching: post secondary teachers; elementary school teachers, except special education; and teacher assistants.
• Transportation and material moving: truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer; laborers and freight and stock, and material movers, hand; and truck drivers, light and delivery services.
• Other: landscaping and grounds keeping workers; carpenters; and maintenance and repair workers, general.

• Short-term on-the-job training is the level of post-secondary education or training most workers will need to become fully qualified in the majority of these large growth occupations.