HBS professor says male job loss a long-term problem

Three quarters of the seven million jobs that have vanished in the recession belonged to men. The male unemployment rate is now 9.8 percent, vs. 8.1 percent for women. The trend got Larry Summers, the president’s top economic adviser, speculating recently, “When the economy recovers five years from now, one in six men who are 25 to 54 will not be working.”

Ouch. While the decline in construction and manufacturing is hurting men in the workforce, expansion of health care and education is helping women. It also helps women that we are traditionally paid less (earning 22% less than men, on average). It’s usually more profitable to keep a woman on the payroll than a man. …

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