Thread by @19thnews

Nearly 500,000 women returned to the workforce in March, compared to about 162,000 men, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

Women still remain behind pre-pandemic employment levels. bit.ly/3dAoAn8

Women-dominated industries, including leisure and hospitality, are beginning to bounce back just as students who have been learning remotely for months return to in-person classes. bit.ly/3dAoAn8

But the pandemic has caused an unequal recession, and some groups have started to bounce back more robustly.

— Black women have an unemployment rate of 8.7%
— Latinas: 5.9%
— Asian women: 5.7%
— White women: 5% bit.ly/3dAoAn8

Economist @MikeMadowitz said that the country’s employment rate likely won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2022, even given this historic pace of growth. bit.ly/3dAoAn8

With about 4.1 million people who have been out of work for more than six months, there are now more people experiencing long-term unemployment, both in and out of the labor market, than at virtually any other time in U.S. history. bit.ly/3dAoAn8

The longer people are out of the labor force, the harder it is for them to rejoin it, particularly in a similar role or for similar pay as before.

Because women are more likely to be out of work than men, this is expected to exacerbate the gender pay gap. bit.ly/3sxdHZz

At a press conference on Friday, President Joe Biden called the jobs report “promising” after a “year of devastation.”

“Today’s report is good news. ... But we still have a long way to go,” Biden said.

More from @marielpadilla_: bit.ly/3dAoAn8