(CNN) – A major milestone for women on the jobs front — for the first time since the great recession, women now outnumber men in the workforce, according to new data from the Labor Department.
It’s a miniscule, yet massively interesting piece of data buried in the Labor Department’s December jobs report.
It found women now occupy more than 50 percent (50.04%) of non-farming positions.
Experts say this trend is expected to grow, as the number of working women increases while the number of men in the workforce declines.
So, what’s behind the shift?
Experts point to the economy moving away from traditional male-dominated jobs in sectors like manufacturing toward a service-based business model.
The jobs report found that more female-dominated industries like education and health services added 36 thousand jobs.
Meanwhile, jobs in the mining and manufacturing sectors saw lost about 21 thousand jobs.
Perhaps another reason for the shift– a report by Catalyst finds women are earning more degrees than men.
Census figures show this is advantageous for women because having a college degree is linked to higher salaries.
