While the national unemployment rate remained steady, Black women faced the sharpest job losses in April, pushing their unemployment rate to a months-long high, according to recent data released by the federal government.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Black women lost 38,000 jobs, and their unemployment increased by 106,000 last month. Their unemployment rate jumped to 6.1%, up from 5.1% in March. That’s a full percentage point increase in just one month.
Data from the digital platform HBCU Money shows the number of Black women employed is at a five-month low. And their number of unemployed is at a five-month high.
Meanwhile, other groups saw no significant changes. White women’s jobless rate held steady at 3.3%, and Hispanic women remained at 4.6%, according to the report. Unemployment among Black men dropped slightly to 5.6%, down from 6.1% in March.
Overall, the Black unemployment rate rose to 6.3%, continuing a troubling trend. April marked the third month in a row that the number increased. Nationally, unemployment remained unchanged at 4.2%.
Economists and labor experts opined that the numbers reflect a broader decline in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives due to policy changes under the Trump administration.
William Michael Cunningham, an economist and owner of Creative Investment Research, told Black Enterprise that Black women’s rising unemployment is directly tied to anti-DEI policies and federal workforce cuts under the new administration.
He said Black women, particularly in government jobs, are disproportionately affected.
“This is demonstrably damaging to the Black community, something we have not seen before,” Cunningham said. “The unusual nature of this increase in Black women’s unemployment is a testament to and a direct result of the anti-DEI and anti-Black focus of the new administration’s policies.”
According to Cunningham, the number of Black Americans unemployed rose by 29,000 in April, reaching nearly 1.4 million. He said the labor force also shrank slightly, with 7,000 fewer people counted, as reported by Black Enterprise.
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April’s job report also showed that federal employment fell by 9,000 jobs, according to news sources. Since January, it has dropped by 26,000. Black women have historically held a larger share of federal jobs, meaning these cuts have hit them especially hard.
Employment in industries like retail and hospitality is also down. Those sectors employ a large number of Black women, which adds to the impact.
Andre M. Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, pointed to similar concerns.
“The layoffs at the federal level where Black people are more represented, the impacts of the tariffs, particularly on small businesses that hire Black women, and just the overall use of DEI as a slur… all of these factors are probably at play,” Perry told Bloomberg.
DEI programs, especially in government and corporate settings, have been reduced or eliminated under new federal policies. Some large companies have also pulled back on such initiatives in response to political pressure and lawsuits.
As a result, roles tied to DEI have disappeared. For many Black women, those were career-entry points or promotion paths that no longer exist.
A report by Bloomberg also noted that the jobless rate for Black women has been climbing since February 2024. The rate now sits a full point higher than it did last month, indicating a growing divide in job recovery by race and gender.
Despite the overall economy adding 177,000 jobs in April, those gains are not reaching everyone. Advocates are calling for more attention to how federal policies affect different groups. While job growth continues in some sectors, the uneven recovery has created new gaps.
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