The gap between male and female unemployment stands at 1.5 percentage points as unemployment of both males and females increased by similar levels in 2011, but for different reasons according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Female unemployment has risen as a result of more women entering the labour market and becoming jobseekers, and while male unemployment has been rising slightly more significant, this rise would have been greater were it not for men leaving the labour market.

In the 2008-09 recession, women accounted for only around a fifth of the fall in employment, but with the current recession hitting public sector jobs, and reducing the number of part-time roles in services such as retail, it is expected that female unemployment will increase at a greater rate in the near future.

Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the CIPD, says: “This might indicate that the impact of economic austerity will prove to be more gender balanced than at first thought, although it also underlines how tough things are becoming for both sexes in our increasingly depressed jobs market.”

As reported by recruiter.co.uk on 23 November, the gender pay gap dropped to below 10% for the first time in April this year, while the negative gender pay gap, whereby in part-time employment women earn more than men, rose above 5%.