“In fact, women of all races are suffering disproportionately during the weak recovery, as public sector jobs shrink under the chokehold of tightened budgets. Women hold a high percentage of those jobs, largely because local governments were the first places to implement fair employment practices, said Jeff Hayes, senior research associate at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

‘That’s the first place they found good jobs and careers, because there were routinized rules for hiring,’ Mr. Hayes said.”