Job growth and associated mythologies of the current Administration.

Never mind the continuing fact that the current American workforce is at it's lowest levels since mid-1970.  That's 9 million folks out of work and no longer looking.  They have given up and who cares?  No one in the current Administration,  that is for damn certain.   And now,  we have the following report to deal with.  Question:  does anyone care anymore or are political concerns the more important issue?  Good grief.  

Understand that I do not regret the employment of the immigrant population.  That is not the point of this complaint.  Rather,  what is sad is the fact that our Administrators want us to believe that things are better for all of us.  They are not.  

Despite Recent Job Growth,

Native Employment Still Below 2007

BLS data show all net employment growth

has gone to immigrants

President Obama recently announced plans to give legal status and work permits to millions of illegal immigrants.    Many members of Congress and the president continue to support efforts to increase the level of immigration, such as Senate bill S.744 that passed that chamber last year. Yet data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on its website (see Table A-7) show that all of the net gain in employment since 2007 has gone to immigrants (legal and illegal), also referred to as the foreign-born.

Native employment has still not returned to pre-recession levels, while immigrant employment already exceeds pre-recession levels. Furthermore, even with recent job growth, the number of natives not in the labor force (neither working nor looking for work) continues to increase.

Additional findings:
• The BLS reports that 23.1 million adult (16-plus) immigrants (legal and illegal) were working in November
2007 and 25.1 million were working in November of this year — a two million increase. For natives, 124.01 million were working in November 2007 compared 122.56 million in November 2014 — a 1.46 million decrease.
• Although all of the employment growth has gone to immigrants, natives accounted for 69 percent of the growth in the 16 and older population from 2007 to 2014.
• The number of immigrants working returned to pre-recession levels by the middle of 2012, and has continued to climb. But the number of natives working remains almost 1.5 million below the November 2007level.
• More recently, natives have done somewhat better. However, even with job growth in the last two years  (November 2012 to November 2014), 45 percent of employment growth has gone to immigrants, though  they comprise only 17 percent of the labor force.
• The number of officially unemployed (looking for work in the prior four weeks) adult natives has declined in recent years. But the number of natives not in the labor force (neither working nor looking for work) continues to grow.
• The number of adult natives 16-plus not in the labor force actually increased by 693,000 over the last year, November 2013 to November of 2014.
• Compared to November 2007, the number of adult natives not in the labor force is 11.1 million larger in November of this year.

Despite Recent Job Growth, Native Employment Still Below 2007.  BLS data show all net employment growth has gone to immigrants.

By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler and published here.  

Steven A. Camarota is the Director of Research and Karen Zeigler is a demographer at the Center for Immigration Studies.
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