Warning of a “crisis of economic displacement” unfolding across the country, Representatives Yvette D. Clarke, Robin Kelly, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Ayanna Pressley led 23 members of Congress in calling for immediate federal intervention as unemployment among Black women continues to climb at rates unmatched by any other demographic group.
Their letter, addressed to U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Acting Director Loretta Greene, paints a troubling picture: since the start of the second Trump Administration, economic conditions for Black women have sharply deteriorated while the federal systems designed to monitor labor trends and protect vulnerable workers have been weakened or dismantled.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black women experienced the highest percentage-point increase in unemployment of any demographic group since January 2025. In April alone, 106,000 Black women lost jobs, pushing their unemployment rate from 5.1% to 6.1%, despite the national unemployment rate remaining largely unchanged. By late summer, the crisis had intensified, with Black women’s unemployment reaching 7.5%, nearly double the rate for white women and far above the national average of 4.3%.
“These numbers represent more than statistics — they reflect a crisis of economic displacement for thousands of mothers, caregivers, and heads of households,” the lawmakers wrote. They note that the losses are particularly concentrated in public-sector jobs — once a strong source of stable employment for Black women — with more than 300,000 Black women reportedly pushed out of public service roles in less than a year. The departure of so many Black women from classrooms, hospitals, administrative offices, and government agencies could have long-term ripple effects on community stability, public institutions, and family economic security.
But the lawmakers argue that the crisis is being compounded — and in some ways hidden — by the degradation of federal infrastructure responsible for collecting and analyzing employment data. They warn that the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “a cornerstone for reliable data,” has faced sustained political and budgetary attacks that threaten its ability to produce accurate, race- and gender-specific reporting. Without this data, they say, policymakers risk flying blind.
Equally concerning to the members is the effective dismantling of the Women’s Bureau — the only federal agency specifically charged with advancing economic opportunities for women. Once responsible for documenting the wage gap, tracking childcare costs, supporting women in non-traditional occupations, and producing critical data on workforce conditions, the Bureau has seen regional offices shuttered, staff reductions, and a weakening of its analytic capacity. “At a moment when women — particularly Black women — are facing significant labor-market headwinds, the erosion of the Women’s Bureau leaves a dangerous vacuum,” they wrote.
The lawmakers argue that these changes reflect “deliberate policy choices” by the Administration: the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; the defunding of programs supporting minority- and women-owned businesses; and the removal of oversight mechanisms designed to ensure fairness in hiring, pay, and workplace protections.
In their letter, the representatives call on the Department of Labor to take three immediate steps:
- Reaffirm the importance of accurate, disaggregated labor data specific to Black women and other underrepresented groups;
- Restore and preserve the data-collection and analytic functions previously housed in the Women’s Bureau; and
- Identify policy actions to mitigate disproportionate job losses, particularly in sectors where Black women have traditionally served as economic anchors.
“Black women’s labor has long been the backbone of our classrooms, hospitals, and communities,” the lawmakers concluded. “To ignore the economic crisis facing them now would be to disregard the very foundation of our nation’s progress.”