Back in April I noted that women are doing most of the heavy lifting in keeping America’s job numbers up under the chaos of professedly man-friendly Trumponomics. Last week’s global economic update from Deloitte points to analysis from economist Mike Konczal finding that women account for all of America’s new jobs since Trump returned to the White House and then some:
…what is interesting is the nature of employment growth: Since January 2025, growth in employment was entirely due to increased employment of women. Meanwhile, male employment was stagnant during that time. Specifically, the number of jobs held by men declined by 6,000 during the past year and a half. Meanwhile, the number of jobs held by women increased by almost 800,000.
Thus, women accounted for more than 100% of job growth [Ira Kalish, “Weekly Global Economic Update: Week of September 21, 2026,” Deloitte, 2026.09.22].
Konczal says women are succeeding while Trump’s misogynist policies are failing:
There are two takeaways here. First the Trump administration is trying to force women out of the workforce under the idea that their tariffs, deportations, and other economic policies are creating a workforce more accommodating to men. Last week, HHS was reported to be drafting a rule that would redirect child care funds away from working parents and toward married parents with a parent raising a child at home. On education, last year’s reconciliation bill capped how much graduate students can borrow unless they are in a “professional degree” program, a definition that initially left graduate nursing off the list and is still in litigation.
I think this is wrong by itself on any number of grounds. But it’s worth dwelling on the fact that they can’t even deliver on the reactionary promise they’ve made. No matter the mess they make of the economy between random trade wars and political pressures on the central bank, they can’t deliver job growth in industries that employ men. And all their “your body, my choice” hate and reaction isn’t putting the toothpaste back in the tube when it comes to women’s active participation in the economic realm. All their effort at a gender vibe shift is in service of a plan that is failing on its own terms.
Second, this is not from women taking on more jobs, or industries becoming more female; this is overwhelmingly, on the order of 84 percent or more, about industries that employ more women growing faster. There will be a conservative spin that this is all about girlbosses, or discrimination against men, or subsidies for working women. There’s no empirical evidence for that. They are simply failing at what they have set out to do [Mike Konczal, “Why Are Women over 100% of Jobs Gained Under Trump’s Second Term?” blog, 2026.09.10].
Women’s dogged ambition amidst Trump’s economic impotence reminds me of the labor dynamic Dolly Parton saw back in 1969:
In 2018 South Dakota ranked 50th in women’s workplace environment and 38th overall in WalletHub’s Best & Worst States. The red moocher state climbed to 32nd in 2019 but sank again in 2020 to surf the bottom for women’s equality at 38th and 41st in empowerment.
In 2022, of the 25 best states for women 22 of them were blue according to rankings from WalletHub. My home state of South Dakota held 51st place for the number of women who own businesses, 49th in percentage of women who voted in 2020 but tied for 1st with North Dakota for lowest unemployment among women. The bottom 8 states for women’s well-being were red.
In 2023 20 of the 25 best states for women were blue but 17 of the worse states for women were red. North and South Dakota were still tied for first place in rates of employed women while New Mexico is still too high in rates of women living in poverty. South Dakota was 50th in women-owned businesses and 41st in women’s health care and safety.
In 2025 South Dakota was 51st in the percentage of women-owned businesses. The best 20 states for women were all blue while the 20 worst states for women were all red. In 2024 South Dakota dropped to 49th in financial literacy and 50th in financial knowledge and education. The state was the 43rd best economy in the US, 51st in percentage of businesses owned by women and 50th in innovation potential.
Today, South Dakota is 36th in women’s equality behind even Mississippi, 35th in political empowerment and 30th in workplace environment, has dropped to 50th in financial literacy is 51st in financial knowledge and education rank, 41st in innovation, 45th in human capital rank, 47th in innovation environment and 50th in share of technology companies.
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-women-equality/5835
This is no surprise. Women will work low paying jobs, especially when they have mouths to feed. All the jobs I’ve had are female dominated because of this reason; waitressing, teaching K-8, and homecare. The lower the pay, the fewer the men.
In this area, we are now an educational desert. Jobs requiring any schooling are hard to fill; dentist, car mechanic, plumber, nurse, teacher, etc.
Sorry, but AI isn’t going to replace those jobs, not in SD.