K-shaped economy puts pressure on women, as lower pay and higher costs reduce spending

The Labor Department reported on Friday that 92,000 jobs were lost in February, as the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%.

The unemployment rate for women held steady at 4.1% for the first two months of the year, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, the sharp rise in the number of Hispanic or Latina women and Black women who are out of work is profound, experts say, with their unemployment rates rising to 5% and 7.1%.

A significant pay disparity for women, and especially women of color, also has an impact on the widening divide between high-earners and low- and middle-income Americans in the so-called “K-shaped” economy.

“The wage gap for women is 81 cents for every dollar a man makes, but it’s especially wide for women of color — 65 cents for Black women, 58 cents for Latina women and also 58 cents for Native [American] women,” said Vasu Reddy, director of state policy for workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit that advocates for women’s legal rights.

As a result, “women’s spending power is reduced,” she said. “What you can afford is determined directly by your wages.”