Despite a trend of women exiting the workforce, our economy needs to value them in order to thrive.

The latest national jobs numbers should concern every leader in America – not simply because women are losing jobs, but because they reveal something deeper about whose economic contributions we value.

In July, the U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs. Women accounted for all of the net job losses, losing 32,000 jobs while men gained 9,000. Even more striking, 165,000 women ages 20 and older left the labor force altogether. Since January, roughly 845,000 women have left the labor force, compared with 406,000 men.

These numbers are not simply another monthly economic fluctuation. They are a warning – one that should deeply trouble us all.

When women leave the workforce, the consequences ripple far beyond individual households. Families lose income. Businesses lose talent. Communities lose consumers, taxpayers, entrepreneurs and leaders. And when women – who make up roughly half of the workforce – are pushed to the sidelines, our national economic capacity shrinks.

When women leave the workforce, consequences ripple.

This matters particularly in California and in the Monterey Bay region.

Our regional economy depends heavily on industries where women play essential roles: health care, education, hospitality, tourism, government, administration and human services. Yet these are too often the jobs we undervalue.

We celebrate a construction project, but overlook the woman managing the household while her partner works on the project. We celebrate the technology company, but undervalue the teacher preparing the next generation of workers. We measure productivity while ignoring the unpaid caregiving that makes paid employment possible. We praise entrepreneurship while failing to recognize the women running small businesses, farms and community organizations.

Our economic systems too often reward what has traditionally been coded as “men’s work” while treating women’s work as supplemental – even when it is indispensable.

That mindset is economically irrational.

The Monterey Bay region cannot afford to lose women from our workforce. We already face housing shortages, high costs of living, workforce constraints and employers struggling to attract and retain talent. The answer is not simply telling women to work harder or return to work. It is building an economy in which women can participate and succeed.

That means attainable housing, affordable child care, paid family leave, equal pay, career pathways into higher-wage industries and workplaces that value caregiving rather than penalize it.

Most importantly, it means changing how we define economic contribution. Women are not a secondary workforce. Women are an economic engine.

If America wants sustained growth, California wants greater competitiveness, and the Monterey Bay region wants a resilient future, we cannot afford to leave half of our talent on the sidelines.

TAHRA GORAYA is president & CEO of Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP).