Rep. Ayanna Pressley is calling on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to address the disproportionate increase in Black women being unemployed, regarding the issue as a “red flag” for the entire country.
“I write with urgent concern regarding the rising rate of unemployment for Black women in the United States. The U.S. Federal Reserve has a statutory mandate to promote maximum employment and that must be true for all people, regardless of race and gender,” the Massachusetts Democrat wrote in a letter to Powell.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the unemployment rate for Black women increased 1.3%, reaching 7.5% in August. With 319,000 more Black women employed in February than in July.
President Donald Trump’s economic policy to cut diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs has also had a major impact, as 18.7% of Black workers make up the federal workforce, CNN reported.
Labor Economist, Valerie Rawlston Wilson, told NBC, “We know that Black women are about 12% of the federal workforce, which I believe is about double their share of the workforce overall, so losses in that sector you’d expect to have a larger impact on Black women.”
Black women are also the most vulnerable, which is seen now and was during the Great Recession. During that period, they were the hardest hit and continued to lose their jobs even after the recession ended. Pressley noted in her letter thant Black women have a higher likelihood than any other demographic to seek higher education, and also represent the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, and are a disproportionate number of family breadwinners. “When coupled with the fact that job openings and hires decreased overall since July 2024, you should see the current economic outlook as a glaring red flag that forbodes danger for the entire country,” she wrote. “This disparity should not go overlooked as unemployment of Black women is a key metric of the health of the U.S. economy,” Pressley wrote.
This is exactly why many believe DEI has got to go. Black male unemployment is the highest in the country and the congress woman does not give a damn about that!! She is concerned that Black women are also unemployed even tough it is at a lower rate than that for Black men?