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On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the COVID-19 virus and, subsequently, 42 states and territories issued mandatory stay-at-home orders. By April 2020, the overall rate of unemployment had spiked to 14.7 percent, up from 4.4 percent a month earlier, with adult women’s unemployment reaching 15.5 percent and men’s 13.0 percent.
Five years on, employment has more than recovered, and unemployment has fallen to pre-pandemic levels. This fact sheet reviews whether key indicators for gender and racial/ethnic equality have changed since the pandemic, including employment and unemployment, the role of parenthood for labor force participation, and women’s distribution across industries and occupations.