Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su was asked about whether migrants who cross the border should be allowed to work in the United States.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell He said Wednesday that immigrants entering the workforce and looking for jobs is contributing to the rising unemployment rate.
Powell was asked whether the level of job creation in the economy, which has averaged just over 100,000 over the past three months, was a cause for concern and whether the labor market could continue to slow through a decline in job openings rather than job losses.
“Job creation depends on inflows,” Powell said. “If millions of people enter the workforce and 100,000 jobs are created, the unemployment rate is going to rise. So it really depends on what the underlying trends are in the fluctuations in inflows.”
“we, Cross-border flowsAnd that's actually one of the factors that allowed unemployment to occur. [rate] “It's going to go up. And the other thing is the employment rate is slowing down, which is something we're watching closely too. So it depends on what's happening on the supply side,” he explained.
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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said rising immigration could lead to new workers entering the labor market and raise the unemployment rate. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/via Getty Images)
of Unemployment rate The unemployment rate has risen in recent months amid a hiring slowdown, hitting 4% in May for the first time since January 2022, and 4.3% in July before falling to 4.2% in August.
Powell's comments came after the August employment report Decreasing employment Over the past year, the number of employed foreign-born workers increased, but it decreased among native-born workers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) noted that over the 12 months ending in August, employment for U.S.-born workers fell by more than 1.3 million jobs, while employment for foreign-born workers increased by more than 1.2 million jobs over the same period.
As of August, the BLS estimates there were 129,712,000 U.S.-born workers, down from 131,031,000 in August 2023. By comparison, there were 31,636,000 foreign-born workers in August, up from 30,396,000 a year ago.
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Illegal border crossings have increased sharply in recent years under the Biden-Harris administration. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via / Getty Images)
The BLS figures do not distinguish between foreign-born workers who entered the country with authorization, such as green card holders, workers with work visas, and foreign workers who entered the country without authorization.
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie SuOn September 6, the day the latest jobs report was released, Su, who oversees the BLS, was asked by Fox Business Network's Edward Lawrence whether immigrants who cross the border without authorization should be allowed to work. Su declined to answer the question, but emphasized the importance of immigration to the U.S. economy.
“We believe that migrant workers are truly important to key sectors of our economy, from agricultural workers to construction workers,” Su added. “Every worker deserves to be fairly paid for their hard work that day and to be able to go home healthy and safe.”
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Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su played down data showing rising employment for foreign-born workers at a time when fewer U.S.-born workers are finding work. (Brendan Smiarowski/AFP/via Getty Images)
Asked about employment report data showing a decline in native-born workers and an increase in foreign-born workers, Su said he didn't know the figures.
“I don't know what you're looking at. It doesn't match up with the data that we're looking at and what we're reporting. Again, we've created nearly 16 million jobs. Biden-Harris Administration “Since I took office, the vast majority of jobs have gone to people born in the United States, but immigrant workers have played a really important role as well,” Su said.
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According to data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the net increase was 9 million immigrants From the end of 2020.
This figure includes 2.6 million lawful permanent residents who entered the U.S. legally, such as green card holders and those on family or work visas, and 6.5 million classified as “other aliens” (people who entered the U.S. without authorization).
FOX Business' Edward Lawrence and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
