Hello, everyone. I'm Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us.

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, as expected, for the first time this year.

And at the press conference after the Fed meeting, Chair Powell made it clear that the

central bank is shifting its focus more towards the labor market, which, as we've been talking about

on the show, is showing cracks. And it's affecting black workers the most. The black unemployment

rate hit 7.5% in August, up from 6% in February. That is well above the overall unemployment rate.

Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Presley has been ringing the alarm bells about this, particularly

what it means for black women in the United States. Last week, before the Fed's meeting,

she wrote a letter to Chair Powell demanding that the Fed take action to address the rise in black women's unemployment.

And she's joining me today to talk about it.

Congresswoman, welcome to the show.

Good to be with you.

Thank you, Kimberly.

What's the reaction been to your letter so far?

You know, people find it alarming as well they should. You know,

again, black women have throughout history been the canaries in the coal mine. And so when you're

talking about 4.3% unemployment overall, but for black women, a staggering 6.7%. And this is from February to July. So you're talking about 320,000

black women between the public and private sector that have been pushed out of the labor force.

And so it is staggering. I think we'd be hard press to experience a scenario

where any other group would experience unemployment at this rate. And this would not be sounding

alarm. And there would not already be work underway, analysis underway to look at what other tools are available to us.

So lowering the interest rates, you know, that will have an impact.

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