Black women have historically and continue to experience higher unemployment rates than other groups of women, but this recent decline in employment is significant compared to recent years.
In fact, recent jobs data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the unemployment rate climbed sharply for Black women in November, while further analysis shows that the overall jobless rate edged up slightly last month to 4.2% from 4.1% in October. Although other marginalized groups saw a slight increase as well, Black women experienced the most significant uptick, with their jobless rate surging to 6% from 4.9%. In comparison, the jobless rate for white women ticked up slightly to 3.4%, compared to 3.3% in October.
The report also shed light on the overall labor force participation rate, which measures who is looking for work. For Black women, that number dipped to 62.3% in November as compared with 62.6% in October.
What’s The Cause Of This?
“It’s layered—this being an election year definitely plays a part but what sits on top of that is the repeal of the affirmative action legislation in addition to the rollback of DEI,” says Patrice Williams-Lindo, change management consultant and founder of career pivot strategy firm Career Nomad. “As you think about what that looks like, it means that we start out behind the gate already, whether from entry level all the way up to leadership. We make up less than 7% of all C-suite levels across the nation.”
As ESSENCE previously reported, the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the “[r]ace-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional,” and both are in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
Williams-Lindo goes on to explain that diverse representation is likely to continue to decrease if some sort of intervention doesn’t happen.
“Because less of us are around, then there are less decision-makers that look like us that can speak to who we are and ultimately hire us for the position we’re qualified for, but don’t have access to.”
Will Black Female Employment Rebound Anytime Soon?
Black women face a double burden of racism and sexism, which can lead to underrepresentation in high-wage jobs and discrimination in hiring overall. Williams-Lindo believes there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though.
“We have a way of being resilient in even the most dire of circumstances, so I do believe they’ll be a downturn in unemployment for Black women,” she says. “As we saw with the political events of the past few months, namely within the support groups for VP Harris, there are enough of us getting the word out about the disparities we face.”
Beating DEI Divestment
Since the repeal of Affirmative Action, a conscious effort has been made against DEI, and Black women have been among the most adversely affected. Williams-Lindo says that the best way to work around anti-woke policies is by shifting focus on what can’t be taken away, skills.
“One of the things myself and many of my colleagues do is empower each other. One of the core offerings of my practice is teaching people about the power of recognizing their transferable skills. For example, if you’re a laid off educator, I let that person know that they have the ability to take complex information and synthesize it, which can be valuable to a software company that may be hiring.”
She adds: “Same thing for a chief diversity officer. With the repeal of DEI initiatives, you have scores of DEI practitioners that think they are limited to that space, but if you can translate that, that’s employee engagement and customer experience. There are other ways that you can retool what you have as your key transferable skills.”
