There’s a chilling trend emerging in the job market: Women are dropping out of the US labor force at some of the highest levels in history.
An estimated 455,000 women left the workforce between January and August this year, a period when the overall labor force has held relatively steady, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
Only the pandemic saw a larger exodus for that period, according to BLS records that go back to 1948.
Economists are sounding the alarm: The losses, if continued, not only stand to erase the historic gains made by women in recent years but also risk stifling US economic growth.
“It’s diminishing both current and potential growth in the economy,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG. “You want an economy that has as many people who want to have their hat in the ring working and their talents as possible. It’s not a zero-sum game. It’s not men or women. We need everybody. We need all hands on deck.”
Reversing trends
In the years leading up to the pandemic, the labor force participation rate for prime working-aged women (25-54 years old) rose faster than that of their male counterparts.
There were some key reasons behind that shift: Fast-growing industries such as health care and caregiving were predominantly female; educational attainment for women rose subs
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