The Employment Situation of Immigrants and the U.S.-Born in the Fourth Quarter of 2021
Unemployment and labor force participation among the foreign-born and U.S.-born
By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler on March 14, 2022
An analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that while the official unemployment rate for both the U.S.-born and immigrants has fallen significantly, it remains higher than before Covid. But perhaps most important, the labor force participation rate — the share of working-age (16-64) people holding a job or looking for one — remains near historic lows. Those not in the labor force are not included in the official unemployment rate. The economic and social disruptions caused by Covid-19 exacerbated what has been a long-term decline in the labor force participation rate going back decades. In the fourth quarter of 2021, only 73.2 percent of the working-age (16-64) U.S.-born were in the labor force compared to 77.3 percent in 2000. If their labor force participation had remained the same as it was in 2000, then nearly seven million more U.S.-born Americans would have been in the labor force in 2021.
The decline in labor force participation is especially pronounced among the U.S.-born without a bachelor’s degree. Although this report provides figures for every year from 2000 to 2021 for many different sub-populations, we focus on the peak years of economic expansion (2000, 2007, and 2019) as well 2021 because it is the most recent fourth-quarter data available. Immigrants (legal and illegal together) in the CPS are often referred to as the "foreign-born" and include all persons who were not U.S. citizens at birth — primarily naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, long-term temporary visitors (e.g. guestworkers), and illegal immigrants.
https://cis.org/Report/Employment-Situation-Immigrants-and-USBorn-Fourth-Quarter-2021
