Southeast Texas P-16 Council

While male unemployment rates have mostly be very similar to female unemployment rates since 1948 (in the 70′s and 80′s the male rate was a little below the female rates), this chart from Verifiable.com shows that this recession is different. Male rates have soared to a peak 10.6% while females rates peaked at 8%. The reason for this unprecedented difference could be because the housing crisis hit the construction industry hard — and industry that is heavily male dominated.

This second chart, from Verifiable.com shows that workers with less education suffer more unemployment than those with a more education. The difference has been even greater than ever in this recession. In 2001, the workers with no education were suffering an unemployment rate of around 9%, while for those with a bacherlor’s degree the rate was about 3 percent.

However, in this recession, that was been about a 10% difference between those with no high school diploma and those with a bachelor’s degree. The unemployment rate for those with no high school diploma peaked at 15.6%.