While Overall Unemployment Rate Edges Down, Rates Increase for Black Women and Latinas

There were gains across the board in labor force participation rates, and increased unemployment rates for these groups were likely due to Black women, Latinas, and Latinos joining the labor force as unemployed workers.2 Women ages 20 and over joined the labor force in large numbers in December, with 398,000 more women now working or looking for work than the previous month. [...] Similarly, the unemployment rate for men ages 20 and over decreased from 3.3% in November to 3.1% in December 2022.9 • The unemployment rate for Black women ages 20 and over was 5.5% in December 2022, up from 5.2% in November. [...] The unemployment rate for Black men ages 20 and over decreased from 5.4% in November to 5.1% in December 2022.10 • The unemployment rate for Latinas ages 20 and over was 3.7% in December 2022, up slightly from 3.6% in November. [...] The unemployment rate for Latinos ages 20 and over was 4.0% in December 2022, up from 3.6% in November 2022.11 • The unemployment rate for Asian women ages 20 and over was 2.0% in December 2022, down from 2.2% in November.12 • The unemployment rate for women with disabilities ages 16-64 was 5.8% in December 2022, up from 5.5% in November.13 PAGE 2 • The unemployment rate for young women ages 20-24. [...] NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Sex and Age,” Table A-1 in December 2022 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: January 6, 2022), https:// www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm, BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Race, Sex, and Age” Table A-2 in December 2022 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: January 6, 2022), ht.