Katie Couric's Notebook: Workforce Women

American women are close to another milestone - out-numbering men at the office for the first time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says women now hold almost 50 percent of the nation's non-farm jobs.

Still, it's not really anything to celebrate. This isn't because women are suddenly moving up. It's because so many men are being laid off. While the unemployment rate for men has jumped to 7.6 percent, it's only 6.2 percent for women. That's partly because women dominate areas such as health care and education that suffer less in recession, but it's also because so many work part-time.

The truth is the jobs these women hold often aren't as good. Women make only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men - and they're far less likely to have health insurance or retirement plans.

It would be great to cheer another crack in the glass ceiling, but this is just another sad statistic of a sad economy.