Reverse Gender Gap in Unemployment

By Nicholas J. Kaster

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals a huge gender imbalance in unemployment, one which the ever-vigilant mainstream press has curiously ignored. As revealed by the graphic below, male unemployment in May 2009 has soared to 10.5%, while female unemployment is only 8%.

The statistics were posted on the blog of Greg Mankiw, Harvard economics professor and former chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors, taken from the blog of Professor Mark Perry, of the UNiversity of Michigan's School of Management. Mankiw conjectures that a large part of the explanation for this enormous disparity is that this particular downturn involves a significant slump in residential construction. This seems like a plausible explanation. But one cannot help but think that if the statistics were the other way around, and women were disproportionately unemployed, the results would be trumpeted all over the press as yet another product of gender discrimination.