CHICAGO, March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Professional Diversity Network, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPDN) releases its latest Diversity Jobs Report (DJR) and Diversity Jobs Index (DJI), which analyzes the employment situation for women, minorities, veterans, the disabled and LGBT professionals for the month prior.  In honor or Women's History Month, the new DJR honors women who, throughout their careers, put millions of cracks in America's proverbial glass ceiling.

The DJI for the February 2015 report is 50.04, indicating a .04% increase in demand for diverse talent as compared to the month of January.

Other report highlights include:

• Although the overall US unemployment rate fell, unemployment for diverse Americans actually increased by 0.79% from 5.4% to 6.19%
• Women are strongly represented in the Education and Health Services sector and make up 74.7% of the overall labor force in this sector during February
• Women's wages are essentially the same as men's upon workforce entry. However, the disparities arise over time.
• This inexplicable wage gap begins to appear around age 30, which correlates to the average age at which women in the US have their first child
• This is primarily because women do not get promoted or receive pay increases at equal rates - even when apparent work related characteristics such as performance and experience are equal.

"Each Diversity Jobs Report uncovers new insights to complement data released by the US Department of Labor and often paints a different picture for how diverse professionals are struggling in the growing job market," said Star Jones, President Professional Diversity Network and the National Association of Professional Women. "With nearly 80 percent of our registered members holding a Bachelors degree of higher, Professional Diversity Network is uniquely qualified to help employers connect with this group. They are educated, have specialized industry skills and ready to add business value."

The DJR is published the day prior to the U.S. Department of Labor's monthly Employment Situation report. To download the full report or review data methodology, visit http://diversityjobnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Diversity_Jobs_Report-Mar2015_FINAL.pdf

About Professional Diversity Network, Inc.
Professional Diversity Network (PDN) is an internet software and services company that develops and operates online professional networking communities dedicated to serving diverse professionals and employers seeking to hire women, minorities, veterans, LGBT and disabled professionals. Through job-matching technology, national events, networking career fairs and relationship affinity groups, the Chicago-based company provides employer clients a means to identify and acquire diverse talent and assists them with efforts to comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. PDN's subsidiary, the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) is one of the largest and most-recognized networking organizations of professional women in the US, with over 600,000 members representing more than 200 industries. Online networking communities include iHispano, BlackCareerNetwork, WomensCareerChannel, Military2Career, ProAble, OutProNet and AsianCareerNetwork. For more information visit, prodivnet.com.

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SOURCE Professional Diversity Network, Inc.