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Women drive job gains nationally with trend resonating in Toledo

Posted By: Toledo Blade on September 25, 2026.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

When Alisha Stallworth, owner of Pound Cake Expressions in Toledo, needed help with her business, she reached out to Women of Toledo, which provides support for women in the work force.

The nonprofit pairs new business owners with experienced professionals who can mentor them in various areas of business development.

Operating her business from home for the last four years, Ms. Stallworth needed advice on how to market her products outside her home.

“My mentor talked about ways I could expand and helped me think outside the box as far as my selling points,” Ms. Stallworth said. “Just meeting people, speaking in front of people, is something I was told to do. Speaking is not my strong point. But part of growing is getting out and meeting people.”

Her experience with Women of Toledo has also given her the opportunity to connect with other female entrepreneurs and help them build confidence and develop strategies and skills to succeed, she said.

“I’m still growing. I’m still learning and connecting with people in the community,” Ms. Stallworth said.

Ms. Stallworth plans to attend Science After Dark: EmpowHER Market at the Imagination Station on Nov. 7 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event will feature 50 female-founded small businesses and vendors.

More women in the workplace

Ms. Stallworth is one of a growing number of women in the work force, whether working for themselves or someone else.

Women accounted for 158,000, or 98 percent, of the 162,000 payroll jobs added in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Compared with a year earlier, 870,000 more women are employed in the United States.

Among the sectors that added the most jobs in August were health care and public education, fields traditionally dominated by women.

The August numbers didn’t surprise Jeff Schaaf, vice president of talent strategy at the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“Health care and education are two of the largest employment sectors in the Toledo region, and both employ a significant share of women nationally,” Mr. Schaaf said.

“Our Talent Alignment research also shows continued demand for workers in these fields, so it would not be surprising to see some reflection of the national trend locally. There may also be seasonal or family considerations that influence when people enter or return to the work force, particularly around the start of the school year,” Mr. Schaaf said.

Rea S. Hederman, Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at the Buckeye Institute, said women make up the majority in service sector jobs.

“Particularly in health care and education,” Mr. Hederman said. “It was the service sector jobs that provided the bulk of job growth in August, so it’s not surprising that women made up the vast majority of the job growth.”

“That 98 percent number is very high and striking. It does illustrate the reality of the modern work force. Women have a lower unemployment rate than men, and we continue to see shifts in industries. As the economy continues to move, we know women are ready to fill those jobs.”

For the last 40 years, the male labor force participation rate peaked, then started to decline, while women have increasingly been in the labor force, he said.

“Depending on which sector is growing at any given time, that will impact whether men or women are getting most of the jobs,” he said. “Nurses and health education are predominantly female, and that has been in great demand in the last several years. Most nurses will be able to find work pretty easily because we know as we age, we need more caregivers and providers.”

Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau released its income and poverty report for 2025, which showed women’s earnings increasing while men’s remained essentially unchanged, he said.

“Among full-time year-round workers, median earnings increased 3.2 percent for women, but it did not change for men. So female earnings far outpaced male earnings last year,” Mr. Hederman said.

Education gains

Women also earn more bachelor’s degrees than men, which helps them in the labor force.

“Women are basically earning about 58 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, and that plays out over time, particularly for higher skilled jobs, for sure,” Mr. Hederman said.

Gabriella Traverso, program assistant for Women of Toledo, wasn’t surprised that women accounted for nearly all of the net jobs added in August.

“Women have done really well,” Ms.  Traverso said.

Women of Toledo, which provides support for women in the work force, focuses on advocacy, economic development, and youth development.

“If a new business owner needs help in marketing, we’ll find an expert who is a professional in that field,” she said. “We’ll pair them with the new business owner to get that development going.”

While the numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are striking, women’s large share of U.S. job gains in August doesn’t necessarily indicate lasting changes in the market, said Ali Kilpatrick, an assistant lecturer of economics at the University of Toledo.

“It’s an interesting statistic. I think we’ll need to wait to see what the trend actually looks like month over month. A one-month jobs report is interesting in itself, but it doesn’t tell us a whole lot about what’s really going on. What is more important is what will be the trends over time,” Ms. Kilpatrick said.

“Typically in August, we see a big bump in the education sector because schools have opened back up. That’s a very female-dominated field. In general, that could be part of it. But there’s not a big change in the unemployment rate for women. It was down slightly by 0.1 percent. So we’re not seeing big shifts in women’s unemployment numbers,” Ms. Kilpatrick said.

Darlene White, program manager of OhioMeansJobs Lucas County, said more women use the employment resource than men.

“It’s always been more women that I’ve served throughout my career than men,” she said. “I think it’s because women don’t earn as much. The hourly rates are usually less than their counterparts. Sometimes they’re single, and they need to work not one but two jobs to support their families.”

Ms. Kilpatrick wondered if inflationary pressures could also be spurring more women to get jobs.

“Are women who had been staying home with the kids now working part time to supplement household incomes?” she asked. “I haven’t been able to see any reliable data on that. I would be interested in seeing more information.”