The US Census Bureau recently released new annual unemployment figures with its 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates,   which show a continued increase in unemployment rates despite the end of the recession. In Mecklenburg County, unemployment rose to 12.8 percent in 2010, up substantially from 10.7 percent in 2009.  Interestingly, the 2010 rates were relatively similar for men and women of all ages.  The only exception was for the 65 years and over age group, where 13.5 percent of women were unemployed compared to the 10.7 percent of men.

Looking at the data over the past couple of years, a number of trends emerge.  While men ages 16 to 24 years faced higher unemployment in 2009 than women of the same age, the gap closed in 2010 with both genders facing roughly 23 percent unemployment.  Women in both the 25 to 54 and 55 to 65 year age groups saw slightly higher unemployment through 2009, but this leveled off in 2010.  For women 65 years and over, the gap in unemployment is decreasing noticably; in 2008, women faced 7.1 percent unemployment to men’s 0.8 percent unemployment.

Also important to note are the circumstances of single parents.  Single moms faced a much higher unemployment rate than single dads (18.7 percent versus 10.0 percent in 2010).  Unlike trends for women in general, this gap has increased in recent years.  In 2005, there was only a five percent gap with single mom’s facing 10.7 percent compared to single father’s 5.6 percent.

About the data:  These data are derived from the American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.  Statistics are available for geographies with populations above 65,000 individuals and across topics ranging from demographics and poverty to housing and transportation.  2010 metropolitan level data from this source are not yet available.