Black Women’s Unemployment Is Rising. How Should We Talk About It?

Many people are feeling the impact of a particularly tough job market, with more and more people losing their jobs in recent months. But what does it mean when one group seems to be targeted more than others?

A recent report showed that in just three months, almost 300,000 Black women had left the workforce. It’s a number that is jarring, especially for Black women navigating the corporate world. 

Since this number was shared online, many people have been trying to figure out what exactly is going on and what they can do about it. Joy M. Hutton, founder of workplace consulting group jmh and co., said these statistics are a warning. 

“I feel like this is something that we really should be paying attention to because it’s not just a loss of a job,” she said. “It’s the unravelling of financial stability and generational progress.”

Over the last few years, many milestones of “generational progress” have occurred, including the repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and Affirmative Action in 2023. As of 2025, there’s been a rollback on DEI efforts at the federal and corporate levels.

The first of those harmed by these recent policies seems to be Black women. In May, a report from the National Women’s Law Center showed that women and people of color were disproportionately affected by the federal government’s cuts. 

In response, many have encouraged these women to go out on their own and try entrepreneurship, but Joy said it’s not so easy. 

“Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart,” Joy said. “So I’m not going out here and telling everybody to become an entrepreneur, because that alone has its struggles too.”

Dr. Wendi Williams, a psychologist and consultant for workplace leaders, said this is a great time for people to jump headfirst into their passions. 

“Anybody can be an entrepreneur, anybody can figure out what it is that they have that is worthy and interesting to the public, into the marketplace, and put it for sale,” she said.

But despite the possibility of being your own boss, entrepreneurs aren’t immune to a struggling economy. Joy said that she has felt companies start to cut back on her services. 

“I’ve lost a few government contracts that were long-term contracts, and people are definitely cutting back,” she said. “I mean, there were contracts that I’ve had for five years, and they were like, ‘Sorry, Joy, we’ve got our funding cut.'”

But with so much loss, financial, social, mental, and more how do we encourage women to move forward in the face of adversity? Wendi said that it is important to acknowledge that your position is not who you are. 

“It may have been a mistake if we aligned too much of who we believe we are, our identity, with a job and some other institutional organization, because those have never really been the places where we find our humanity,” she said. 

The workplace has often been a place where Black women struggle to be seen and heard. This new wave has only amplified trends that already exist. Wendi said she is hoping that these women remember that they still possess the same skills with or without a job. 

“You’re still beautiful, you’re still smart, you’re still strong,” she said. “And the talents and the expertise that you brought to that job, you also can bring into other places.”