Recent labor market data reveal a growing disparity in employment outcomes, with Black women experiencing significant setbacks since early 2025. Between February and September, this demographic lost 297,000 jobs, while 223,000 remain unemployed and 75,000 have exited the labor force entirely. These departures are estimated to reduce U.S. GDP by approximately $9.2 billion annually, reflecting not only lost wages but also diminished productivity and tax contributions.
The scale of impact is particularly stark when viewed proportionally. Black women make up a workforce five times smaller than that of White women. If the latter group faced equivalent displacement, it would equate to roughly 3.05 million individuals—comparable to the entire female workforce of Pennsylvania—being economically sidelined.
Since the pandemic began, 341,000 Black women have yet to return to the labor force. This group represents one of the most educated segments of the female population, with over half serving as primary earners in households with children. Their absence undermines both immediate economic stability and long-term workforce development.
Wage disparities further compound the issue. In the second quarter of 2025, median weekly earnings for women declined while men’s increased, resulting in women earning 81 cents for every dollar earned by men. For Black women, the gap is wider: they earn 71 cents per dollar weekly and only 66 cents annually compared to White, non-Hispanic men. Census data also show the gender pay gap has widened for two consecutive years—the first such trend in decades.
Inflation trends add another layer of strain. Although recent figures indicate a 50% lower inflation rate on goods marketed to women compared to those targeted at men—a shift from the previous month’s 138% higher burden—this temporary relief does little to offset persistent wage inequities.
Official unemployment statistics understate the full extent of the crisis. While the reported rate for Black women rose from 5.4% to 7.5% between February and September, accounting for those who have left the labor force raises the effective unemployment rate to 10.23%.
Job growth patterns highlight structural imbalances. In September, Black women gained 10,700 positions, nearly all in low-wage sectors such as health care, food services, and social assistance, where weekly pay ranges from $530 to $1,200. These industries already employ a large share of Black women and offer limited upward mobility.
Conversely, losses occurred in higher-paying, stable fields: 1,500 jobs were shed in government, and no gains were made in finance, transportation, or professional services. This trend indicates a troubling pattern—employment expansion in lower-wage roles and contraction in better-compensated ones.
Nationally, 673,000 women remain absent from the labor force since the pandemic onset, despite an increase in the number of working-age women. In contrast, 879,000 men have entered the workforce since February alone, widening the gender gap rather than closing it.
The imbalance in employment trends has grown sharply. As of August 31, Black women were down 319,000 jobs while men had gained 365,000. By November, the gap had expanded: Black women’s job losses stood at 297,000, while total male employment rose by 621,000—an increase of 324,000 in just two months. The net shift nears one million jobs, equivalent to adding Boston’s workforce while removing one the size of Greensboro.
This divergence suggests a structural realignment rather than a temporary economic fluctuation. The labor market is increasingly favoring male re-entry while marginalizing women, particularly Black women, in ways that aggregate data often obscure.
Such a trajectory threatens broader economic resilience. Long-term fiscal health, including programs like Medicare and Social Security, depends on broad workforce participation. Concentrating Black women in low-wage roles while excluding them from higher-paying industries undermines growth, equity, and national output.
Addressing this requires targeted policy action: enforcing pay equity, expanding access to high-growth sectors like technology and finance, and revising Federal Reserve models to account for labor force exits. Economic stimulus should prioritize inclusive employment strategies over broad tax cuts to ensure sustainable participation.
Without intervention, the current trajectory will continue to impose heavy costs—not just on Black women, but on families, communities, and the nation’s economic foundation.
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The exit economy is here. Black Women are paying the highest price
Stagnation would be troubling enough. But because revisions are reported only in aggregate, we don’t know which groups bore the brunt of those cuts. Intersectional analysis fills that gap—and what it reveals about Black women’s employment should alarm us all. n nBlack women are being sidelined at scale n nSince February, Black women have lost 297,000 jobs. Another 223,000 remain unemployed. And 75,000 have been pushed out of the labor force entirely. I estimate that these forced exits alone are draining an estimated $9.2 billion from U.S. GDP this year. These aren’t just missing paychecks; they represent lost productivity, lost tax revenue, and diminished national output. n nThe proportional impact makes the numbers even starker. Black women’s labor force size is five times smaller than that of White women. If White women had been sidelined at the same rate, my calculations show the equivalent would be 3.05 million White women economically sidelined. That’s equal to the entire female workforce of Pennsylvania. n nZooming out, I find that 341,000 Black women are still missing from the labor force since the pandemic began. This is the most educated female cohort in the country, and more than half are breadwinners for households with children. Erasing their economic participation undercuts today’s stability and tomorrow’s workforce. n nA widening pay gap, masked by misleading numbers n nThe latest data show women’s weekly median earnings fell in the second quarter of 2025, even as men’s earnings increased. The result: women earn just 81 cents for every dollar men earn. Black women’s gap is even wider: 71 cents on the dollar weekly and just 66 cents annually compared to White, non-Hispanic men. On top of that, Census data confirm the annual gender pay gap has now widened for two years in a row, the first back-to-back setback in decades. n nAt the same time, inflation is gendered. In a reprieve for women’s already thin paychecks, the current inflation rate for goods marketed to women is 50% lower than for goods marketed to men. That’s a sharp reversal from the prior month, when women’s inflation burden was 138% higher. n nOfficial unemployment numbers also disguise the depth of the crisis. Black women’s unemployment rate rose from 5.4% in February to 7.5% in September—already more than two points above what the Federal Reserve considers “full employment.” But when accounting for the hundreds of thousands of women pushed out of the labor force entirely since 2020, the real unemployment rate for Black women is 10.23%. n nJobs are growing where women are paid the least n nThe only meaningful job gains for Black women came in health care, food services, and social assistance: +10,700 positions in September. This is the sector where Black women are concentrated and also among the lowest-paying in the economy. Average weekly pay in these sectors hovers around $530 to $1,200—far below wages in manufacturing, finance, or professional services. n nEven within health care, Black women face some of the largest racial and gender pay gaps. Meanwhile, Black women lost 1,500 jobs in government, a more stable and higher-paying sector, and saw zero gains in finance, transportation, or professional services. In short, they are gaining jobs where wages are lowest and losing them where wages are better. n n700,000 women missing from the workforce n nThe November 20, 2025, Jobs Report confirms the divide is still widening—just in a different direction than earlier in the year. As of the latest data, 673,000 women remain missing from the labor force since the pandemic began. In theory, the growth in the number of women eligible to work over this period should have expanded participation. Instead, participation remains depressed. n nBy contrast, since February alone, 879,000 men have entered the labor force. That divergence makes clear the gap isn’t closing—it’s accelerating. Even as women’s participation remains structurally suppressed, men are re-entering the labor market at scale, reshaping the workforce in ways the topline numbers continue to obscure. n nThe employment gap is widening fast n nOn August 31, when I last published an analysis of these figures, Black women were down 319,000 jobs while white men had gained 365,000. Expanding the analysis to reflect men overall, the gap has only grown more lopsided: Black women are down 297,000, but men’s gains have surged to +621,000. That’s a 324,000 widening of the gender gap in two months—a 34% jump. Since February, the swing between black women’s losses and men’s gains approaches 1 million jobs. n nPut differently, the labor market added the population of Boston in male workers, while subtracting the equivalent of Greensboro in female workers. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity. n nStructural, not cyclical n nThis is not a cyclical slowdown. It is a structural divide. The labor market is being carved up with precision: n nWomen, and especially Black women, are being cut out. n nMen’s gains are being supercharged. n nThis divide threatens the very foundation of America’s economic stability. An economy cannot remain resilient while sidelining its most educated women and breadwinner mothers. It cannot sustain Medicare and Social Security if over one million women are missing from the workforce. It cannot grow while concentrating Black women in the lowest-paid jobs and locking them out of higher-wage industries. n nWhat must be done n nThe numbers point to urgent, actionable solutions. Enforce pay and opportunity equity. Rebuild inclusive pipelines into higher-wage sectors like technology, finance, and government. Require the Federal Reserve to account for labor force exits, not just topline unemployment, in its models. And design stimulus not as across-the-board tax cuts but as targeted investment to keep women—and especially Black women—working. n nThe Exit Economy is here. If policymakers ignore it, Black women will continue to pay the highest price. But the cost won’t stop there. It will ricochet across households, communities, and the national balance sheet—eroding the very prosperity America claims to protect. n nThe opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.