Stats through 2007:

Women comprised 46% of the total U.S. labor force and are projected to account for 47% of the labor force in 2016.

The largest percentage of employed women (39%) worked in management, professional, and related occupations; 34% worked in sales and office occupations; 20% in service occupations; 6% in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 1% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.

The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers were $614, or 80 percent of men’s $766. When comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24, young women earned 92% of what young men earned ($409 and $443, respectively).

The 10 occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women who were full-time wage and salary workers were:

Pharmacists, $1,603

Chief executives, $1,536

Lawyers, $1,381

Computer and information systems managers, $1,363

Computer software engineers, $1,318

Psychologists, $1,152

Physical therapists, $1,096

Management analysts, $1083

Computer programmers, $1074

Human resource managers, $1073

Women accounted for 51% of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. They outnumbered men in such occupations as financial managers; human resource managers; education administrators; medical and health services managers; accountants and auditors; budget analysts; property, real estate, and social and community association managers; preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers; physical therapists; and registered nurses.

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