Men are losing ground in the labor market. Here's why

• Women outnumbered men in the workforce for eight straight months as of September, the longest stretch since 2010, according to Indeed.
• The seasonally adjusted number of employed men in the U.S. was lower by about 1.2 million in September than in the same month a year ago, while the women's figure rose over that timeframe.
• Men's relative weakness in the labor market can be attributed in part to which industries are driving growth.

(L-R) Everette Kerry of Life Alert speaks with Maximilian Kegley-Oyola and Dylan Flowers about job opportunities during the Mega JobNewsUSA South Florida Job Fair at Amerant Bank Arena on Sept. 25, 2026, in Sunrise, Florida.Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs report may feel especially lousy for men.

Women outnumbered men in the workforce for eight straight months as of September, according to an analysis of government data by Indeed. That's the longest stretch since 2010, the job search platform found.

"Back then, the gap emerged because men were losing jobs," said Cory Stahle, senior economist at Indeed. "This time, it's because women are gaining them."

Gender differences

Across the board, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that U.S. payrolls grew by 29,000 jobs on net in September, lower than economists consensus forecast for an increase of 84,000.

Men represented slightly over half of net job growth in September, according to a CNBC analysis of Friday's BLS data. A month prior, men represented just 2% of payroll growth.

Despite the monthly increase, the seasonally adjusted number of employed men in the U.S. was lower by about 1.2 million in September compared with a year ago. Women's employment rose by more than 650,000 in the same period.

This schism in labor market performance by gender can be partially explained by which industries are growing, according to Stahle.

Health care, a key driver of the U.S. job market for the last several years, accounted for more than half of overall payroll expansion in September. Women make up nearly four out of every five workers in the sector.

But the BLS said in its Friday release that health care hired at a slower pace in September than on average over the last year. Because of that, women may not have gotten as big of a boost from the sector as they did in prior months.

Monthly payroll contraction in female-centric industries like government also dilluted overall gains for women in the month, Stahle said.

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