The number of American women outside the labor force declined last month but still remained high, according to government data released Friday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in November 56,295,000 women (ages 16 and older) were neither employed nor had looked for a job in four weeks. The number represented a decline of 245,000 from October’s level and a decline of 352,000 from September’s record level of 56,647,000 women not in the workforce.
The labor force participation rate for women also increased by 0.3 percentage points from 56.5 percent to 56.8 percent. And the civilian labor force among women increased by 348,000 from 73,527,000 in October to 73,875,000 in November.
The female unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent. There were 3,614,000 women unemployed in November down by 13,000 women compared to October and 70,261,000 women had a job in November — up from October’s 69,901,000.
Overall the economy added 211,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent. Some 94,446,000 Americans were outside the labor force last month.