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A new jobs report for August shows that employment numbers for U.S.-born and foreign-born workers are on very different trajectories.
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Department of Labor, employment for U.S.-born workers fell by more than 1.3 million jobs over the past 12 months, while employment for foreign-born workers increased by more than 1.2 million jobs.
The news came after U.S. job growth accelerated in August but fell short of economists' expectations and the unemployment rate was little changed.
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According to data released by the Labor Department, employment for native-born Americans fell by more than 1.3 million in the past 12 months. (Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
As of August of this year, there were 129,712,000 U.S.-born workers; by August 2023, that number is expected to fall to 131,031,000, a sharp decline of 1,319,000 jobs.
By comparison, there were 31.636 million foreign-born workers in the U.S. as of last month, but that number is expected to grow to 30.396 million by August 2023, an increase of 1.24 million jobs.
The figures do not distinguish between foreign-born workers who entered the country with permission, such as green card or work visa holders, and foreign workers who entered the country without prior authorization.
The United States has seen a rapid increase in immigration under the Biden-Harris administration, with the net increase in immigration exceeding 9 million since the end of 2020, according to statistics from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
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Employment gains for both June and July were revised downward. (Jeff Kowalski/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
About 2.6 million of the immigrants are legal “permanent residents,” which includes green card holders and others who entered the country through legal routes such as family or work visas. The remaining 6.5 million foreigners are called “other aliens” and consist of people who crossed the southern border without prior authorization.
The Labor Department said on Friday that payrolls rose by 142,000 in August, well above the 160,000 increase expected by economists at LSEG.
The unemployment rate also unexpectedly rose to 4.3% in July, the highest level since October 2021, before easing slightly to 4.2% as expected.
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The Labor Department said on Friday that payrolls rose by 142,000 in August, well above the 160,000 increase expected by economists at LSEG. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The number of jobs added in the past two months was revised down, with June's figure being revised down to 118,000, a decrease of 61,000 from an increase of 179,000, and July's figure being revised down to 89,000, a decrease of 25,000 from an increase of 114,000. The revisions made the July payroll figure, nonfarm payrolls, the lowest since December 2020.
Construction employment added 34,000 jobs in August, above the 12-month average of 19,000 monthly gains. Health care employment added 31,000, below the 12-month average of 60,000.
The number of dual-job workers increased by 65,000 to 8.538 million, while the number of part-time workers increased by 527,000 and the number of full-time workers decreased by 438,000.
FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.
