Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) wrote to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Monday urging him to handle the current rise in unemployment amongst Black girls beneath the Trump administration.
August knowledge from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirmed unemployment amongst Black girls at 2.4 share factors greater than the nationwide common.
“Black women unemployment has remained significantly high since March 2025. Mass federal workforce layoffs by the current Trump Administration have disproportionately impacted Black women, who comprise about 12 percent of the federal workforce compared to about 7 percent of the overall labor market,” Pressley wrote within the letter.
The nationwide labor statistics are a broader reflection of a microcosm within the nation’s capital the place the Black-white unemployment ratio is the very best within the nation at 3.9-to-1, consultants say.
In the course of the first quarter of 2025, mass firings ordered by President Trump precipitated the Black unemployment price in DC to soar at 9.9 p.c in comparison with 2.6 p.c for white residents, in keeping with the Washington, D.C.-based Fiscal Coverage Institute.
The district’s Chief Monetary Officer Glen Lee anticipates that these losses will probably be largely accountable for pushing the nation’s capital into a light recession in 2026 and lowering income by $1 billion over the following three years per the establishment.
In line with BLS knowledge, there was a 1.3 p.c enhance within the unemployment price for Black girls from February to July and 1.5 p.c for Black males over the identical interval.
In current months, Trump has criticized Powell for refusing to decrease rates of interest and mishandling operations on the federal company. The president has urged the Fed chief to resign and has appointed Stephen Miran, chair of the White Home Council of Financial Advisers, to quickly serve on the Fed Board of Governors amid a emptiness.
Pressley’s requires transparency from the Fed come amid firms’ rollbacks of variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices and insurance policies first applied within the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 dying.
Earlier this yr, Powell and economists pledged to make sure most employment for all demographics.
“Moreover, the assaults on variety, fairness, and inclusion [DEI] have compounded the damaging results on Black girls,” Pressley wrote in her letter. “Financial boundaries like hiring discrimination and wage disparities are extra prevalent when employers are prohibited from valuing variety, fairness, and inclusion (DEI).”
The Massachusetts Democrat added that consultants on the Federal Reserve have to make good on their promise by monitoring knowledge on the unemployment of Black girls and researching coverage measures to forestall unfairness amongst sure demographics.
“The U.S. Federal Reserve has a statutory mandate to promote maximum employment and that must be true for all people, regardless of race and gender,” she wrote.
The lawmaker is requesting knowledge on the affect of job losses on Black girls and steps the Fed will take to make sure it continues to uphold the mandate of most employment for the group — together with an in depth plan of the way it plans to handle the more and more excessive unemployment charges of Black girls.
She additionally pressed Powell to make sure the independence of the nation’s central financial institution, together with combating again in opposition to illegal firings. She pointed to the Trump administration’s ousting of Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Prepare dinner for example.
Pressley gave the Fed chair till Sept. 30 to reply.
