Black women’s employment has fallen since 2024, but the sharpest declines have come in 2025: Employment-to-population ratio for women by race and ethnicity, January 2023–August 2025

Black White Hispanic
Jan-2023 59.7% 55.7% 58.5%
Feb-2023 59.7% 55.8% 58.4%
Mar-2023 60.8% 55.6% 58.3%
Apr-2023 61.1% 55.9% 58.6%
May-2023 60.4% 55.9% 58.9%
Jun-2023 59.5% 56.2% 58.8%
Jul-2023 59.7% 56.2% 59.0%
Aug-2023 59.7% 56.2% 59.1%
Sep-2023 59.9% 56.2% 59.0%
Oct-2023 60.2% 56.0% 58.7%
Nov-2023 60.6% 56.0% 58.7%
Dec-2023 60.2% 55.5% 58.5%
Jan-2024 59.9% 56.0% 58.2%
Feb-2024 60.6% 56.0% 58.4%
Mar-2024 59.5% 56.0% 58.4%
Apr-2024 59.8% 56.2% 58.9%
May-2024 59.6% 56.0% 58.8%
Jun-2024 58.8% 55.8% 58.3%
Jul-2024 59.5% 55.8% 58.3%
Aug-2024 59.7% 56.1% 59.4%
Sep-2024 59.0% 56.1% 59.2%
Oct-2024 59.5% 55.7% 58.3%
Nov-2024 58.6% 55.7% 58.6%
Dec-2024 59.0% 55.7% 58.9%
Jan-2025 59.2% 55.9% 58.8%
Feb-2025 59.3% 55.8% 58.9%
Mar-2025 57.8% 56.0% 59.3%
Apr-2025 57.5% 56.1% 59.6%
May-2025 57.8% 55.7% 59.1%
Jun-2025 57.3% 55.9% 58.6%
Jul-2025 57.2% 55.8% 59.0%
Aug-2025 57.3% 55.5% 58.9%
Economic Policy Institute

Note: Race and ethnicity are not mutually exclusive, i.e. white alone, any ethnicity, Black alone, any ethnicity, and Hispanic, any race. Data are for those 20 and older and are seasonally adjusted.

Source: Author's analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey public data. 

View the underlying data on epi.org.