Pressley urges Fed chair to address Black women's unemployment as the figure rises

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, wants Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to address a disproportionate jump in the unemployment rate for Black workers, especially women.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is calling for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to address a new jobs report that shows a disproportionate jump in the unemployment rate for Black workers, with a focus on Black women.

In July, 319,000 fewer Black women were employed than in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, leading to a 1.3% increase in the unemployment rate for Black women. The rate increased by 1.5% for Black men over the same period.

Pressley sent a letter to Powell on Tuesday morning, obtained exclusively by NBC News, urging the Fed to uphold its mandate to promote the highest level of employment for all workers and stressing that Black women’s employment is a “key metric of the health of the U.S. economy.” She also called for the Federal Reserve to collect data on changes in Black women’s employment for the government to create public policy to prevent or stall more losses.

In addition to having a rising rate of college enrollment, Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs “and disproportionately serve as breadwinners for our families,” Pressley wrote. “When coupled with the fact that job openings and hires decreased overall since July 2024, you should see the current economic outlook as a glaring red flag that forbodes danger for the entire country.”

Pressley reiterated Monday that the unemployment rate for Black women is “a glaring red flag” for the overall health of American jobs. “When the rest of the country gets a cold, Black folks get pneumonia,” Pressley told NBC News.