Is the business cycle gender neutral? a sectoral investigation

Using unpublished time‐series data for three specific age/gender groups, we first determine the percentage of female employment to total employment for nine sectors of the U.S. economy. Second, we estimate the cyclical change in hours of employment for each age/gender group within each sector. Third, we estimate the cyclical behavior of the nominal wage for each sectoral gender group. The paper’s evidence does not support, in general, a more cyclical response of female hours worked in the service‐producing sectors that are dominated by women. We find partial evidence that hours worked by men are more cyclical compared with hours worked by women in the male‐dominated goods‐producing sectors. Given the evidence of no pronounced difference in the cyclical behavior of hours and wages for men and women, the business cycle is gender‐neutral.That is, the elastic female labor supply is washed out over the business cycle across major sectors of the U.S. Economy. Observational evidence suggests supply‐side and structural factors in the economy have attenuated the business cycle, especially in the service‐producing sectors.