Another ‘she-cession’ is rearing its head: Women are leaving the workforce at alarming rates

Women, particularly those with young children, have left the US labor force at high rates this year. Economists warn that it could negatively impact not only their future earnings but also broader economic growth. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images

There’s a chilling trend emerging in the job market: Women are dropping out of the US labor force at some of the highest levels in history.

An estimated 455,000 women left the workforce between January and August this year, a period when the overall labor force has held relatively steady, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.

Only the pandemic saw a larger exodus for that period, according to BLS records that go back to 1948.

Economists are sounding the alarm: The losses, if continued, not only stand to erase the historic gains made by