December’s jobs data shows stability on paper—but Black workers continue to face unemployment rates nearly twice the national average, with Black women hit especially hard.
By Andrea Bossi
Essence
https://www.essence.com/
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly job report, that’s like a barometer for U.S. employment, on Friday. On its face, the December 2025 jobs numbers are not so bad. But, digging into the data a little deeper, there are some more alarming trends.
All in all, the report shows employers added 50,000 jobs in December. This was mostly in line with analysts’ expectations. These new jobs kept the national unemployment rate — now 4.4% — little changed. However, the unemployment rate and job losses look drastically different when zooming into Black employment and women’s employment.
To start, Black employment continues to be higher than any other racial group. The national unemployment rate is 4.4%, while white unemployment is even lower at 3.8%. Black unemployment, however, is at 7.5%. (This is a small improvement from November, during which it was 8.3%.) Data shows it’s been harder for Black workers to find jobs right now, and professionals in a recent LinkedIn survey reported feeling the severity of the situation.
“This continues to prove that Black folks are being shut out of the labor market at steeper rates than some other groups,” says Jasmine T. Williams-Jacobs, founder of the digital job board dedicated to Black and queer employment, Black Remote She. On top of that, it’s important to remember that the state of [Black] employment doesn’t account for a lot of other important factors, like “the economic hardship or lack of psychological safety Black people are facing in the workplace right now. We need more jobs that are culturally inclusive and accessible,” Williams-Jacobs adds.
Black women’s employment worsened marginally in December and is now at 7.3%, from 7.1% in November. This comes after 2025’s egregious loss of Black women in the workforce, where an estimated minimum of 600,000 were sidelined.
Women’s employment is also showing concerning signs. 81,000 thousand workers aged 20 and up left the workforce from November to December, and all were women. A whopping 91,000 women in that age range left the workforce during the period, while men’s workforce grew by 10,000. This is almost certainly no coincidence. This is partly boosted by companies scaling back remote work, which disproportionately affects women.
“The Trump administration spent 2025 undermining workplace protections and weakening caregiving support that helps women enter and remain in the labor force. It is clear that this administration doesn’t value women’s work or believe that a woman’s place is at work,” Jasmine Tucker, vice president for research at the National Women’s Law Center, said in a release.
It’s not safe to expect employment to significantly improve for several months into 2026. Experts say it will be “uncomfortably slow” for at least for the first half of the year. Williams-Jacobs, however, says they have “increasingly noticed that there are employers who can and do care about the wellbeing of their employees. But as so many job-seekers right now are all too aware, it takes time, effort and a considerably thorough search process to find the right employer.”
The next jobs report is scheduled for February 6 and will include the latest numbers based on January.
