Black Women Face Sharp Job Losses and Rising Unemployment Despite High Workforce Participation

Despite being one of the most active demographics in the U.S. labor force, Black women saw a devastating setback in April—losing 106,000 jobs and pushing their unemployment rate to 6.1%, the steepest rise among all groups. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these losses come amid broader economic gains, with 177,000 jobs added overall. The crisis is systemic: Black women are overrepresented in low-wage sectors like care work and food service and severely underpaid compared to white men—earning just 69.1 cents on the dollar, a figure that plummets to 49.6 cents in states like Louisiana. Aging only widens the gap. As noted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, wage injustice and job insecurity are entrenched realities—not momentary dips—for Black women in America.