What the chart illustrates is that the Bush recession hit men harder than women and blacks harder than whites (both of these effects are standard during recessions). The employment-to-population ratios fell by 5.7, 7.8, 2.4, and 4.9 points for white men, black men, white women, and black women, respectively.
The chart also shows that, of these groups, only white men have not lost further ground during the Obama recovery. The employment-to-population ratio for white men has risen by 0.3 points, but it has fallen half of a point for black men and white women, and almost a full point for black women.
