WAGE GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN PERSISTS

This story by Catherine Rampell appeared Sept. 28, 2010 in the New York Times.

The gap between men’s and women’s full-time earnings narrowed slightly in 2009, according to new data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

For full-time, year-round workers, median earnings for women were 78.2 percent of men’s median earnings, or $35,549 compared with $45,485. In 2008, the ratio of women’s to men’s median earnings was 77.2 percent.

Men out-earned women in every American state. Here’s a map showing how the pay gap varied around the country: