Press Release: 9/9/2025

Pressley Demands Answers from Powell on Rising Black Women Unemployment Rate

 



Congresswoman Demands Fed Take Action to Uphold its Mandate of Maximum Employment for All Workers



Pressley Also Presses Powell on Fed Independence, Trump’s Illegal Firing of Lisa Cook



“In August 2025, 6.7% of Black women faced unemployment, which is above the already high national average of 4.3%.”



“You should see the current economic outlook as a glaring red flag that forbodes danger for the entire country.”



Text of Letter (PDF)



WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sounding the alarm on the rising unemployment rate for Black women in the United States and demanding the Fed take immediate action to uphold its mandate of maximum employment for all. The Congresswoman’s letter comes with the Trump Administration’s mass federal workforce layoffs disproportionately impacting Black women and as Donald Trump attempts to seize control of the Fed by illegally firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.




“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,” the Congresswoman wrote in her letter. “Given your role as Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, I write to you to request data about the impact of Black women’s job loss on the U.S. economy and a response on how this issue will be addressed.”




In August 2025, the unemployment rate among Black women spiked to 6.7%, which is above the already high national average of 4.3%. Mass federal workforce layoffs by the current Trump Administration have disproportionately impacted Black women, who comprise about 12% of the federal workforce compared to about 7% of the overall labor market.  Furthermore, the Trump Administration’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion have compounded the negative effects on Black women.  Economic barriers like hiring discrimination and wage disparities are more prevalent when employers are prohibited from valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion.




“The Trump Administration is harming the economy by causing the labor market to lose the wealth of knowledge, innovation, and skill that Black women have contributed to this nation,” Congresswoman Pressley continued in her letter. “It is incumbent upon the Federal Reserve to adjust its approach to ensuring a fair economy in the face of fiscally irresponsible policies from the White House.”




In her letter, Congresswoman Pressley underscored the essential role Black women play in the U.S. economy, citing research showing that diverse and inclusive workforces are more productive, innovative, and profitable. The Congresswoman also outlined the long legacy of Black women’s economic leadership, from Sadie Alexander’s groundbreaking work on economic barriers in the early 20th century to Coretta Scott King’s fight for a federal job guarantee during the Civil Rights Movement to Lisa Cook serving as the first Black woman Federal Reserve Governor.



By September 30, 2025, Congresswoman Pressley asked Chairman Powell to:




  • Provide data on the impact of Black women’s job losses on the U.S. economy and discuss how these racial and gender disparities in unemployment rates affect economic inequality.

  • Outline what steps the Fed will take to ensure it continues to uphold the mandate of maximum employment for Black women, including a detailed plan of how it plans to address the increasingly high unemployment rates of Black women.

  • Affirm the independence of the Federal Reserve, including from unlawful firings like that of Lisa Cook.



A copy of the letter can be found here.



Rep. Pressley has consistently advocated for race-conscious policies to help close the racial wealth gap in America, uplift Black, brown, and other marginalized communities.




  • Building on the legacy of Black women in the civil rights movement, Rep. Pressley led a historic resolution calling for a federal job guarantee.  

  • In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Pressley questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the issue of full employment and the Civil Rights history of the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate. Powell conceded, for the first time in Federal Reserve history and on the Congressional record, that the Fed alone cannot get the United States to full employment.

  • Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senator Cory Booker, is the lead co-sponsor of the American Opportunity Accounts Act—also known as Baby Bonds—legislation that would create a federally-funded savings account for every American child in order to make economic opportunity a birthright for every child and help close the racial wealth gap.

  • Rep. Pressley introduced the Equity in Government Act to codify racial equity across federal agencies and improve government services for underserved communities.

  • Rep. Pressley has also called on the five largest banks in America to provide a detailed update on the racial equity commitments the institutions made following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

  • Rep. Pressley was also a leading voice in Congress urging President Biden to cancel student debt. Following years of advocacy by Rep. Pressley—in partnership with colleagues, borrowers, and advocates like the NAACP—the Biden-Harris Administration announced a historic plan to cancel student debt that stands to benefit over 40 million people.