Women have arguably never been more important to the American economy than they are today.
But studies show that they continue to earn less than their male counterparts for doing the same work.
At the Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Sharpshott shows that women across the U.S. are working in record numbers. At last reading, U.S. women held more than 68 million jobs. Even more women are working today than did at the peak of the boom (67.6 million, March 2008).
Meanwhile, men have failed to return to their pre-recession peak employment level. Fewer than 70 million jobs are held by men in the U.S. according to the latest data, down slightly from a peak of 71 million jobs.
At Pew Stateline, Susan Milligan shows that women are earning less than men for the same work -- and that the problem is especially pointed in a handful of key states.
In Wyoming, for example, women earn 65 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to data monitored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest disparity of any state.
Most states have a gap between 10 and 20 cents. In Alabama, the gap is about 15 cents, BLS data show.