Female Unemployment Worse Under President Obama

The official female unemployment rate is 4.9 percent, according to data released earlier this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At a similar point in his presidency, the rate under President George W. Bush was 4.5 percent.

Breitbart News earlier reported that the number of women leaving the workforce is at an all time high. And according to CNS News, the labor force participation for the past month was 56.6 percent, a 27-year low.

However, the female unemployment rate is slightly better than the male unemployment rate, which sits around 5.1 percent.

James Sherk, an expert in labor economics at the Heritage Foundation, said the difference between the male and female unemployment rate is the type of occupation.

“Men are much more likely to work in construction and manufacturing jobs than women,” said Sherk. He said during the economic downturn, about half the job losses came from the construction and manufacturing sectors.

He added that usually government employment is not affected by an economic recession as much as other sectors, which gives females a slight advantage since usually more females work as teachers and government employees.

Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO and possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate, said the Obama Administration’s policies have disproportionately hurt both main street and hurt women.

“It’s a tragedy that 3 million women have fallen into poverty in the last 6 years and 1 million fewer women are working under this President,” said Fiorina.

She added that Obama’s policies have “strangled community banks that provide most of the loans to families and women-owned businesses. They crush the small businesses that create most of our new jobs with taxes and regulations until only the big, the powerful and the wealthy can survive.”

Fiorina also pointed out the hypocrisy of the Democratic rhetoric. “They talk about equal pay for women, but they support a seniority system that rewards not merit or performance or hard work – just time in grade. This system disadvantages women,” explained Fiorina.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an expected Democratic 2016 presidential candidate, did not respond to a request for comment on the issue of female unemployment.