Women Trail in U.S. Employment Gains as Governments Cut

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-27/women-trail-in-u-s-employment-gains-as-governments-cut.html

After eight years as a guidance counselor at Scotts Valley High School and more than 14 years with the district in Santa Cruz County, California, Kimberly Frey says she lost her job in June as part of budget cuts.

Since then, she has forgone health insurance and sold her car to save money while looking for similar guidance work, with no options in sight. “It’s really dried up for school counselors here,” she said. “It’s very discouraging.”

Frey’s situation reflects a trend in which women in the U.S. have been losing the government jobs they dominate even as the private sector has added positions. Women have lost 454,000 federal, state and local government jobs compared with 267,000 by men since the 18-month recession ended in June 2009, Bureau of Labor Statistics records indicate.

The gap has widened in the past year even as government job losses have slowed. Government payrolls cut about five times as many women as men in 2012 and the pattern is continuing. In January, women surrendered 8,000 positions compared with 1,000 for men.