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For the first time in nearly 10years, women hold more than half the jobs in the UnitedStates.

According to the LaborDepartment's latest monthly jobs report, for December, women held50.04 percent of jobs, based on payrolls excluding farm workers andthe self-employed. More specifically, they held 76.246 millionjobs, or 109,000 more than men. 

"This is significant even if thepercentage doesn't stay at that level," said Ariane Hegewisch,  program directorfor employment and earnings for The Institute for Women's PolicyResearch. "The gap hasnarrowed and narrowed for quite a while."

"Women are working where jobsare growing," Betsey Stevenson, an associate professor ofeconomics and public policy at the University of Michigan Gerald R.Ford School of Public Policy, tweeted about the latest jobs report."Healthcare added more jobs in 2019 than 2018, while jobs growthslowed substantially in mining, construction, and transportationand warehousing."

According to the December jobsreport, women continue to hold the majority of jobs in certainsectors: government (58 percent), financial activities (56.4percent), leisure and hospitality (both 53 percent), and more thanthree-quarters of jobs in education and health services (77.4percent).

Women hold 54 percent of nonfarmprivate-sector service jobs, which account for 84 percent of allnonfarm private-sector jobs, according toStevenson.  

But more men are working.According to another section of the jobs report, known as thehousehold survey, just over81 million men over 20 said they were employed in December,compared with 72 million women over 20. The participation rate ofwomen in the workforce is also lower: 59.2 percent versus 71.5percent. 

While women also continue toearn less than men in the aggregate, at 79cents for every dollar a man makes, the gap is negligible whencomparing pay scales between men and women in with the same jobtitle, years of experience, and location—just two cents, accordingto PayScale.com.

The December jobs report showed a moderate growth in totalpayrolls of 145,000, with notable job gains in retail trade andhealthcare, where women tend to dominate, and notable job losses inmining. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5 percent.

From: ThinkAdvisor