Rep. Ayanna Pressley Slams Job Losses for Black Women as “Glaring Red Flag,” Urges Fed Action and Warns of Targeted Harm

Rep. Ayanna Pressley is demanding that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell act on alarming job data showing Black women facing disproportionate losses. “Black women’s employment is a key metric of the health of the U.S. economy,” she wrote, highlighting that in July there were “319,000 fewer Black women employed than in February,” causing a 1.3% spike in unemployment. Pressley called this “a glaring red flag” and warned, “When the rest of the country gets a cold, Black folks get pneumonia.” Her letter urges the Fed to collect data specific to Black women’s employment to guide policies that prevent further harm.

Pressley emphasized Black women’s centrality to economic growth, noting we are “the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs and disproportionately serve as breadwinners for our families.” She tied job losses to systemic issues: cuts to federal jobs, rollbacks in diversity and inclusion initiatives, and declining hires. “It’s a loss of the wealth of knowledge, of innovation, of skills that Black women contribute every day,” she said. Labor economist Valerie Rawlston Wilson pointed out that Black women make up 12% of the federal workforce—double their share of the overall workforce—so recent federal workforce cuts disproportionately harm them.

The broader context is grim: Employers added only 22,000 jobs in August—far fewer than the 75,000 expected—pushing overall unemployment to 4.3%, its highest in eight years outside the pandemic. But Black unemployment soared to 7.5%, up from 6% in February. Gabrielle Smith Finnie of the Joint Center noted that Black unemployment had been steady or falling since 2022, making this jump especially troubling. She and others cited AI adoption and fewer entry-level jobs as additional barriers.

Pressley linked these economic trends to the firing of Lisa Cook, the first Black woman on the Fed board, and to Trump’s broader targeting of Black leaders like Carla Hayden and Gen. CQ Brown. “None of this is by accident,” she said. “This is discriminate harm. It is precise and it is targeted… eventually this harm will come for everyone.” Her message: protecting Black women’s jobs protects the stability and fairness of the entire U.S. economy.

Link: NBCNews