DOWN FOR DAMN NEAR EVERYBODY EXCEPT BLACK WOMEN

Just a few weeks ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly job report, with the January report referring to the state of the labor market in December 2021. These reports are typically released on the first Friday of every month. So, data on the state of the labor market in this month--January--will drop on February 4th, 2022. For the moment, though, we've got the report that dropped on January 7th, 2022--which, again, refers to what was going on in the previous month of December 2021.

By now, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard the top line numbers from the most recent report: That 199,000 additional gigs were grabbed and added to the nation's nonfarm payroll. That the unemployment rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points over the last thirty days of 2021, and the year closed out with an unemployment rate of 3.9%. That over the course of 2021 the number of unemployed persons is down by 4.5 million. That December's 2021 unemployment rate of 3.9% is awfully close to February's 2020 rate of 3.5% and, therefore, that we're getting back to where we were before COVID was a thing. That the unemployment rate for damn near every demographic dropped between November and December 2021.

Take, for instance, the unemployment rate for adult males and women. That rate, according to the Jobs Report, dropped from 3.9% to 3.6%. Or the case of White men and White women. For White men, the unemployment rate dipped from 3.3% to 3.0% and, correspondingly, that for White women decreased from 3.7% to 3.1%.

The report tells a similar about Hispanic men and women: The rate for adult Hispanic men dropped from 4.5% to 4.2%, and that for Hispanic women slid from 5.3% to 4.9%.

And, according to the report, even Black men experienced a drop in decline in their unemployment rate, dropping from 7.2% to 7.0%.

Between November and December 2021, damn near group experienced a drop in their official unemployment rate.

Except one.

DOWN FOR EVERYBODY EXCEPT BLACK WOMEN

Not so, though, for Black women. According to the Jobs Report, during the last thirty days of 2021, the unemployment rate for Black women rocketed up from 4.9% to 6.2%. In November 2021 half a million Black women were looking for but unable to land a gig; by the end of year, that number had jumped to 651,000. The upshot is that over the last thirty days of the year, the number of Black women actively seeking but unable to secure a gig had increased by 151,000 (651,000 minus 500,000). Or, to put it differently, between November and December, the number of unemployed Black women increased by a little more than 150,000.

And, again, make no mistake about it. Black women stand out here, and for all the wrong reasons. Black women were the only group that registered an increase in the number of unemployed. While, as mentioned above, the number of unemployed Black women jumped by half a mil during the last thirty days of 2021, the number of unemployed White men and White women dropped by 185,000 and 355,000, respectively. The respective numbers for Hispanic men and Hispanic women are 91,000 and 33,000. And even though it's smaller than that of other groups, the number of Black men officially classified as unemployed dipped by 24,000 between November and December 2021.

As if that's not enough, there's this: Between November and December 2021, the aggregate or overall Black unemployment rate jumped from 6.5% to 7.1%. Because the unemployment rate for Black men declined during this time period, that increase in the overall Black unemployment had to be fueled by the rising level of joblessness of Black women. Black women bore the increased Black unemployment.

For damn near everybody, then, the unemployment rate and the number of jobless went down. Except, again, for Black women. Their stuff went up.

CENTERING THE LABOR MARKET STATUS OF BLACK WOMEN

What I'd suggest is that, in assessing the state of the labor market and economic well-being of the working class, we pay much attention to metrics that center the experiences of Black women. That we always dig beyond aggregate numbers and connect with what's going on with the "least of these," with what's transpiring with those occupying the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. That we assess the robustness of any economic recovery by the degree to which it incorporates and improves the material conditions of those who are too often left behind. That we dare to begin our analyses by focusing on Black folk, especially Black women, and that we do so unapologetically.

That when the next Jobs Report drops on February 4th, we immediately ask the question: What's up with Black women?

Catch you on the flip side,

Doc Greene