Black women are being pushed out of the workforce en masse

As the American economy moves through choppy global waters of its own making, new data suggests that the country's precarious financial markets have already begun leaving one crucial demographic behind: Black women, some 300,000 of whom are estimated to have left or been squeezed out of the labor force since this spring. Occurring in such a short and volatile period of economic uncertainty, the seismic drop in Black women participating in the job market has alarmed economists and sociologists alike.

Not a 'coincidence' but the 'result of federal policy choices'

While headlines may tout the job market as "strong," Black women "know a different story," said The Root . A combination of "federal layoffs, DEI rollbacks, and structural inequities" has created a "quiet crisis that speaks vo