Global working women on the rise

The world's working women are on the rise, says the International Labour Organization, but many find it hard to get jobs and endure poor conditions.
The number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007. This compares with 1.8 billion men.
The female unemployment rate stood at 6.4%, against the male rate of 5.7%.
Services have overtaken agriculture as the main female employer, the report on employment trends for women found.
In 2007, 36.1% of women worked in agriculture and 46.3% in services.
"Access to labour markets and to decent employment is crucial to achieving gender equality," said Evy Messell, director of the ILO's Bureau for Gender Equality.
"Yet women have to overcome many discriminatory obstacles when seeking jobs. Societies cannot afford to ignore the potential of female labour in reducing poverty," she added.