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It’s the second day of Black History Month, so we’re focusing on Black women in the economy for this month’s Jobs Report. Today’s data show that Black women are 6.8 percent of the adult labor force in January 2024 and have an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent. Black women’s unemployment rate is substantially higher than that of white women, despite Black women’s high levels of labor force participation – a trend that has persisted for decades.

Black women’s unemployment rate is just one example of how discrimination against Black women hurts them economically. The double burden of racism and sexism means that Black women are underrepresented in high-wage jobs, while they are overrepresented in low-paying occupations. For example, due to a long history of undervaluing Black women’s care work rooted in the exploitation of enslaved women’s labor, they are most overrepresented in essential but low-paid caregiving occupations such as nursing assistants (median $17.19/hr) and home health aides (median $14.51/hr). So, while we know that care work is what all other work depends on, it continues to be undervalued and underpaid. And across all Black women workers the wage gap costs them an average of nearly $20,400 each year. All of these inequities are driven by historical structures of discrimination which persist today.

Black women thinkers and leaders are driving efforts to combat this discrimination – an effort that benefits all of us. As National Partnership for Women & Families’ President Jocelyn Frye wrote in her recent report on creating an economy that works for Black women, “Black women are often a bellwether of how well the economy is working, especially for women.” And economist Janelle Jones developed the “Black Women Best” framework, which urges policymakers to center Black women in their policies – and outlines how doing that will help the economy as a whole. She writes, “if [policymakers] reorient their thinking to put Black women first, and promote policies that focus on pulling Black women out of the recession and into prosperity – then they will necessarily be lifting everyone up in the process.”

What does supporting Black women look like for those of us who aren’t writing laws? National Partnership Vice President Amaya Smith said it best: supporting Black women means being “an ally for Black women and their economic futures” by supporting affordable child care, equal pay, paid leave, unions and more. Supporting organizations and policymakers who are centering Black women ensures that we celebrate Black History Month not only by reflecting on the past, but also by committing to an equitable, thriving future for Black women.

Read our full analysis of today’s Jobs Report on Twitter.

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