evidence: The December jobs report was shocking, even to experts who have been closely monitoring unemployment during the pandemic. The U.S. economy lost 140,000 jobs in December, marking the first rise in unemployment since May. Women lost 156,000 jobs, while men gained 16,000 jobs. [...] The demographics of those affected by December job losses were far less surprising. When the coronavirus crippled the economy in March, women of color were hit first and hardest. Disproportionately represented in service and hospitality — industries hamstrung by the coronavirus — Black women and Latinas are also far more likely than White women to be forced out of the workforce by the current child-care crisis, Holder said. With many schools and day cares still closed, working in jobs that cannot be done remotely, they are often left with no choice. [...] Black women and Latinas are disproportionately affected by the behavior of those who can work from home, said Kristen Broady, an economics fellow at the Brookings Institution. When office workers don’t go to the office, she said, they don’t need the baristas, cooks, dry cleaners and custodial staff that used to help them through the workday.