The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly jobs report shows job gains continued to slow in September, with the economy adding back only 661,000 jobs, compared to nearly 1.5 million added back in August. Even with these gains, only about half (51.5%) of the nearly 22.2 million jobs lost in March and April due to the COVID-19 crisis have returned. Women gained about 2 in 5 (43.3%) of the jobs added to the economy in September, while making up about half (49.7%) of the workforce. Over 1.1 million workers ages 20 and over dropped out of the labor force last month – meaning they are no longer working or looking for work. Of the workers who left the labor force, 865,000 (80.0%) were women, including 324,000 Latinas and 58,000 Black women.

Note: NWLC’s monthly jobs day analyses are generally not updated after publication and are provided for archival purposes. Please visit our main jobs day page for the most up-to-date analyses.