91,000 women exited labor market in December

Last month, 91,000 women left the U.S. workforce and 10,000 men joined it, according to an analysis of federal data by the National Women’s Law Center. Men joined the labor market at three times the rate of women in 2025, 184,000 compared to 572,000, respectively. The unemployment rate climbed at a particularly steep rate for Black women, increasing from 7.1% in November to 7.3% in December. “Women’s gains in 2025 are but a fraction of the gains women have made in previous years,” the National Women’s Law Center says.