This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

To the editor: The reported  criminal investigation  involving Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell should alarm anyone who cares about financial stability, bank supervision and the rule-based operation of U.S. markets. This is not about a building renovation. It is about power. When political actors are dissatisfied with monetary policy — interest rates, inflation or the impact of tariffs — they increasingly seek leverage outside the policy process. Investigations, early leaks of confidential economic data, and public insinuations concerning legitimate private financial arrangements become tools of pressure. That is not accountability; it is intimidation. Just as  the fatal shooting  of Renée Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis sparked questions about the appropriate use of force, the criminal inquiry into Powell over his congressional testimony about a building renovation — a question of public record and policy disclosur...

📊 Key Labor Market Facts — December 2025 According to the BLS December 2025 employment situation : The national unemployment rate was 4.4% in December 2025. ( Bureau of Labor Statistics ) Black or African American unemployment was significantly higher , at about 7.5% (seasonally adjusted), nearly double the rate for Whites.  Hispanic/Latino unemployment also remained elevated , though far below Black unemployment (about 4.9%).  Between January and September, the number of unemployed Black women surged from 598,000 to 830,000—an increase of 232,000. While unemployment for Black women dipped slightly in November, it rose again in December to 820,000, leaving Black women unemployment 222,000 higher than at the start of the year. These disparities reflect long-standing structural inequalities in the labor market, where Black workers routinely face higher unemployment rates and longer jobless spells than other groups.  📉 Direct Impacts on Black & Minority-Owned Busines...

Black Enterprise ’s recent article, “Pivotal Moves to Help Black Women Rebound Stronger From Massive Job Cuts,” offers a timely and necessary look at the accelerating employment crisis facing Black women—and, importantly, what can be done about it. The article grounds its analysis in hard data, noting the sharp rise in unemployment among Black women in 2025 and the concentration of job losses in sectors where Black women are disproportionately represented. It moves beyond surface-level advice by emphasizing financial triage, skills realignment, entrepreneurship, and long-term resilience as core strategies for recovery. Creative Investment Research was cited in the piece for our analysis showing that this surge in unemployment is not the result of labor-force exits , but of actual job losses and weak hiring , particularly in education, professional services, healthcare, and public-sector roles. That distinction matters—because it points directly to policy failures and sector-specific ...