Hiring is rebounding in the US – but the ‘shecession’ persists

In March, 495,000 women entered the labor force, but the figures betray the harsher economic situation for Black women and many have dropped out altogether

Women were hit hardest when the Covid-19 pandemic started taking its terrible toll on the job market. Last month there were promising gains for women in the workforce but it's still too early to declare the end of the shecession".

The pandemic's arrival hit the women-dominated leisure, hospitality and retail industries first and hardest as the nation went into lockdown. As job losses hit record highs the US recorded another sorry first - the first recession in which women lost the most jobs.

Related: We don't get help from anywhere': Covid exposes inequality in crisis-hit New York neighborhood

The recovery may not be as complete as for Black workers as it will be for white workers