Women are returning to the U.S. labor force in greater numbers this year, helping arrest an ugly decline in the so-called participation rate. Just how much additional support they can lend the economy over the longer term depends on their continued involvement.
The share of 25- to 54-year-old women either employed or actively looking for a job rose to a seven-year high in July, while the rate among prime-age men merely ticked up for the first time since January, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last week. The 0.3 percentage point increase for females narrowed the gap between the two groups to 13.2 points, the lowest in records to 1948.
