The labor force participation rate for women in their prime working age hit an all-time high, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released as part of the monthly jobs report. Julia Pollak, chief economist for ZipRecruiter, said, “The [overall] prime-age employment-to-population ratio continued to rise, hitting 80.9 percent, the highest level since 2001; among women, it reached 75. percent, the highest on record.”

She wrote, “Looking forward, given that employment levels remain well below what they likely would have been absent the pandemic, future jobs reports are likely to continue showing strong job growth, partly driven by catch-up hiring in the industries hardest hit by the pandemic.” She added, “Anyone who has been to a restaurant or airport lately knows America is still understaffed.”

Women’s labor force participation has rebounded from the pandemic “she-cession” and returned to its pre-pandemic form of making progressively historic labor market gains. In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, women’s labor force participation rates were rising faster than that of their male counterparts. That was due to several factors, including Female-dominated industries, such as health care and caregiving, which were among the fastest-growing industries; educational attainment for women rose substantially; and women also made greater inroads into traditionally male-dominated fields such as construction, agriculture, and repair and maintenance.

The economic evolution and recovery from the pandemic helped accelerate favorable drivers for women to enter the workforce. Jobs, by and large, became less rigid: Telecommuting grew more commonplace, and home-based work allowed for more flexibility in hours. That helped improve access to child care with schedules that allowed for easier drop-offs and pick-ups, as well as companies that offered on-site child care. And labor shortages — largely related to the acceleration of ongoing demographic trends of Baby Boomers leaving the workforce, long Covid and health-related concerns — help to lift wages, especially for low-paying jobs. Women are making historic strides in the labor market; however, plenty of barriers remain in place.

Notably, they’re still making far less than men: In 2022, women in the US earned about 82 cents for every dollar a man earned, according to a Pew Research Center report. That’s a big leap from the 65 cents that women were earning in 1982. But it has barely moved from the 80 cents they were earning in 2002. Separately, new research shows that although men in the US workforce outnumbered women, women could be disproportionately affected by businesses’ adoption of generative AI. One recent analysis estimates that 79 percent of working women (nearly 59 million) are in occupations susceptible to disruption and automation.

That’s compared to 58 percent of working men, according to research from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Still, there may be opportunities that may emerge as a result of businesses incorporating AI.