1. Of the 122 million women age 16 years and over in the U.S., 72 million, or 59.2 percent, were labor force participants—working or looking for work.
   
   
2. Women comprised 46.8 percent of the total U.S. labor force and are projected to account for 46.9 percent of the labor force in 2018.
   
   
3. Women are projected to account for 51.2 percent of the increase in total labor force growth between 2008 and 2018.
   
   
4. 66 million women were employed in the U.S.—74 percent of employed women worked on full-time jobs, while 26 percent worked on a part-time basis.
   
   
5. The largest percentage of employed women (40 percent) worked in management, professional, and related occupations; 32 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 21 percent in service occupations; 5 percent in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 1 percent in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.
   
   
6. The largest percentage of employed Asian, white, and black women (47, 41, and 34 percent, respectively) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. For Hispanic women, it was sales and office occupations—32 percent.
   
   
7. The 20 most prevalent occupations for employed women in 2009 were—
   
   
1. Secretaries and administrative assistants, 3,074,000
2. Registered nurses, 2,612,000
3. Elementary and middle school teachers, 2,343,000
4. Cashiers, 2,273,000
5. Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides, 1,770,000
6. Retail salespersons, 1,650,000
7. First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers, 1,459,000
8. Waiters and waitresses, 1,434,000
9. Maids and housekeeping cleaners, 1,282,000
10. Customer service representatives, 1,263,000
11. Child care workers, 1,228,000
12. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, 1,205,000
13. Receptionists and information clerks, 1,168,000
14. First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers, 1,163,000
15. Managers, all other, 1,106,000
16. Accountants and auditors, 1,084,000
17. Teacher assistants, 921,000
18. Cooks, 831,000
19. Office clerks, general 821,000
20. Personal and home care aides, 789,000


8. The unemployment rate for all women was 8.1 percent and 10.3 percent for men in 2009. For Asian women it was 6.6 percent; white women, 7.3 percent; Hispanic women, 11.5 percent; and black women, 12.4 percent.
   
   
9. The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers was $657, or 80 percent of men’s $819. When comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24, young women earned 93 percent of what young men earned ($424 and $458, respectively).
   
   
10. The 20 occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women who were full-time wage and salary workers in 2009 were--
    
    
1. Pharmacists, $1,475
2. Lawyers, $1,449
3. Computer and information systems managers, $1,411
4. Computer software Chief executives, $1,553
5. Engineers, $1,311
6. Physicians and surgeons, $1,228
7. Computer programmers, $1,182
8. Management analysts, $1,177
9. Computer scientists and systems analysts, $1,167
10. Occupational therapists, $1,155
11. Speech-language pathologists, $1,148
12. General and operations managers, $1,110
13. Education administrators, $1,093
14. Psychologists, $1,091
15. Personal financial advisors, $1,088
16. Human resources managers, $1,072
17. Marketing sales managers, $1,052
18. Managers, all other, $1,037
19. Registered nurses, $1,035
20. Network systems and data communications analysts, $1,032
    
    
11. Women accounted for 51 percent of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. Here is just a sample of these occupations where women were the larger percentage of those employed:
    
    

    Occupation	Percent Female
    Registered nurses..................................................	92.0 percent
    Meeting and convention planners..................	83.3
    Elementary and middle school teachers............	81.9
    Tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents	73.8
    Medical and health services managers.............	69.5
    Social and community service managers...........	69.4
    Psychologists..........................................	68.8
    Other business operations specialists..............	68.4
    Human resources managers.........................	66.8
    Financial specialists, all other......................	66.6
    Tax preparers......................................	65.9
    Insurance underwriters.............................	62.8
    Education administrators...........................	62.6
    Accountants and auditors........................	61.8
    Veterinarians.........................................	61.2
    Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners,
    and investigators..................................	60.6
    Budget analysts......................................	59.3
    Medical scientists....................................	56.9
    Advertising and promotions managers...........	56.5
    Financial managers.................................	54.7

    
    
12. Of persons aged 25 years and older, 29 percent of women and 30 percent of men had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher; 31 percent of women and men had completed only high school, no college.
    
    
13. The higher a person’s educational attainment, the more likely they will be a labor force participant (working or looking for work) and less likely to be unemployed.
    
    
14. For women age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma, 34 percent were labor force participants; high school diploma, no college, 53 percent; some college, but no degree, 62 percent; associate degree, 72 percent; and bachelor’s degree or higher, 73 percent.
    
    
15. For women age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma, their unemployment rate was 14.2 percent; high school diploma, no college, 8.0 percent; some college, but no degree, 8.0 percent; associate degree, 5.9 percent; and bachelor’s degree or higher, 4.5 percent.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, 2009 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, November 2009.