There's finally some inequality in the workplace that benefits women, but it's not all good news. It doesn't bode well for couples or families. And it may not last.

The latest inequality to surface in news reports has nothing to do with earnings levels.

Citing statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, The Boston Globe revealed this week that 1.1 million fewer men are working this year than last year, while 12,000 more women founds jobs.

The reason is that the industries hardest hit by the current economic crisis -- manufacturing, construction, and investment -- are traditionally male-dominated, while health care, one of the safer sectors, employs more women.

The Globe noted that the figures do not incorporate thousands of layoffs that have come down the pike in the last week or two, so the gap could close. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we will see a natural increase in opportunities for blue-collar workers who have managed to earn decent wages without an education.

That's bad news for a lot of women, too, whether they are married with children or single and dating.

The last U.S. recession, from the dot.com bust, was more gender-neutral, since technology and service jobs, especially when combined, are generally more equally dispersed between men and women.

Now, President-elect Barack Obama has announced a plan to create up to 2.5 million jobs in the next two years, while rebuilding America's infrastructure and investing in alternative energy.

Here's hoping that significant infrastructure improvements go toward communications and technology and that lots of the "green collar jobs" go to green tech. But, if we want to get consumer confidence up, foreclosures down, and the overall economy on track, plenty of those jobs should also go to our heavy-lifting blue-collar workers.