The first jobs day for 2026 shows unemployment rates were largely unchanged in December, and job gains (+50,000) were relatively modest. These December figures continued a trend for the year: often small monthly changes, especially among headline data. But the reality is these changes are adding up – and certain groups of workers are being hit especially hard.
The first year of the Trump administration has been characterized by chaotic policies that have harmed economic security, weakened the job market, and undermined civil rights laws and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that make our economy and workplaces more fair and accessible. This has resulted in meager job growth for the year. Monthly job growth in 2025 averaged just 49,000 jobs a month, compared to 168,000 in 2024. This drop was driven by losses in industries affected by tariffs, as well as painful cuts to the federal government. Women’s declines were also pronounced – they averaged 78,000 jobs gained each month in 2024, compared to just 35,000 in 2025.
And while no workers are thriving in the current job market, certain communities are especially suffering. Today’s release of the annual data for 2025* allows us to analyze the labor market for groups of women who are not part of the monthly data release, specifically American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) women, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) women and multiracial women. The results are sobering.
Comparing annual averages on labor market indicators for 2024 and 2025 – such as unemployment rates – we show an economy that is especially failing Black, AIAN and NHPI women.
Our analysis examines what share of a community is employed (known as the “employment-to-population ratio”), which is a strong indicator of the health of the job market. We find that the annual average employment-to-population ratio for women overall declined between 2024 and 2025, dropping from 56.7 percent to 56.4 percent (-0.3 percentage points). But the numbers plummeted for three groups in particular:
- From 52.2 percent to 49.6 percent for AIAN women (-2.6 percentage points).
- From 59.4 percent to 57.8 percent for Black women (-1.6 percentage points).
- From 59.4 percent to 58.3 percent for NHPI women (-1.1 percentage points).
The story for unemployment rates is no better. No group of women saw improvements in their annual average unemployment rate in 2025, compared with 2024. The rate for women overall increased slightly from 3.6 percent to 3.8 percent (+0.2 percentage points). Unemployment rates for Latinas and Asian American women were flat at 4.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, while white and multiracial women saw small increases, rising from 3.2 percent to 3.3 percent (+0.1 percentage points) for white women and 6.3 percent to 6.7 percent (+0.4 percentage points) for multiracial women. Rates for NHPI, Black and AIAN women – already above those for women overall – increased dramatically. NHPI women rose from 4.0 percent to 4.7 percent (+0.7 percentage points), Black women from 5.3 percent to 6.3 percent (+1.0 percentage point) and AIAN women from 5.9 percent to 7.1 percent (+1.2 percentage points).
It’s no wonder that women are feeling terribly about how the government is handling the economy. The latest data from November 2025 show that women’s rating of the government’s economic policies continues to hover at a nearly 50-year low.
These ratings reflect the harmful havoc Trump has wreaked on the economy. ICYMI, Trump is freezing essential child care funding for five states, the purchasing power of the United States dollar continues to decline, and inflation is once again on the rise. It’s no wonder people are having difficulty paying their grocery bills.
That said, state choices on economic policy have offered some bright spots as 2026 kicks off. The minimum wage increased in close to 20 states on January 1, boosting incomes for more than 8.3 million workers and especially benefiting women, Black, and Latino workers. Delaware and Minnesota have officially started processing workers’ paid leave applications. And New York is following New Mexico’s leadership in major investments in affordable child care. States are making clear that powerful policy choices that support women and families are indeed possible – and effective.
These state-level advances make clear that policy choices matter. Instead of cutting health care, undermining civil rights, or pursuing ill-conceived proposals to waste money on discriminatory marriage “bootcamps” for straight families, policy makers should pursue what works: raising wages, supporting paid and unpaid caregivers and keeping workplaces fair and inclusive.
* The federal government shutdown this fall caused a lapse in the Current Population Survey, the household survey used to produce labor market data such as unemployment rates and labor force participation rates. That means 2025 annual averages are based on eleven months of data (excluding October 2025). Note that data for AIAN, NHPI and multiracial women are for women ages 16 and older. Data for other groups of women are for women ages 20 and older.
