By Andrea Bossi ·Updated March 22, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… The labor market has been on a weakening streak since early 2025. Amid the mayhem, layoffs hit highs, women were pushed out of the workforce in droves, and Black women were losing jobs at a higher rate than other women. Most recently, a report showed where unemployment was most extreme.
Washington, D.C. had the highest unemployment in the country in 2025 with an average unemployment rate of 5.9%, per a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. The U.S. unemployment rate in 2025, on the other hand, loomed around 4.4%.
“The labor market was unambiguously weaker through the first year of Trump’s second term, compared with the last year of Biden’s presidency,” the report, updated March 2026, said. “Sweeping federal job cuts, erratic tariff policies, and a retrenchment from diversity, equity, and inclusion are hallmarks of the 2025 labor market.”
These factors, especially the federal job cuts, contributed to Washington’s higher unemployment rate.
The EPI found that in 2025 D.C. had an average Black unemployment rate of 9.5%, per the institute’s report that looked at state unemployment data by race and ethnicity. White unemployment in D.C. last year was a fraction of that at 3.7%.
“This continues to prove that Black folks are being shut out of the labor market at steeper rates than some other groups,” Jasmine T. Williams-Jacobs — founder of the digital job board dedicated to Black and queer employment, Black Remote She — previously told ESSENCE. “The important thing to remember is that the state of their employment doesn’t account for the economic hardship or lack of psychological safety Black people are facing in the workplace right now.”
In 2025, the EPI found Black unemployment was highest in Michigan and Nevada, at 10.7% and 9.4%, respectively. College-educated Black women suffered the largest loss of employment in 2025.
“The Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers and DEI reveal its lack of concern for closing labor market disparities,” the report continued. “It is not surprising that the aggregate increase in unemployment masks large differences in impact across racial groups.”
As of today, Black unemployment remains elevated at the national level, at 7.7%, compared to white unemployment at 3.7%.
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