April Employment Data for Native and Foreign Workers

The jobs report for April released Friday showed that employment grew for native-born and fell slightly for foreign-born workers.

The breakdown of jobs by migration status has gained interest in recent months for several reasons. One is that Republicans have argued that President Joe Biden’s policies have favored immigrants. Another is that the large number of immigrants in recent years may be adding to economic growth in a way that is not adequately accounted for in some government statistics.

The household survey included in the monthly jobs report shows employment for both categories of workers. The numbers, which are not adjusted for seasonal variations, are separate from the payroll jobs reported from the larger survey of business establishments. Because the survey is smaller, the numbers bounce around more.

In March, employment for native-born workers rose above 131 million.

Employment for foreign-born workers, meanwhile, fell to 30.4 million.

One important note is that the native-born population is shrinking, and many people are aging out of the workforce.

So the absolute number of native-born workers might be stalling, but unemployment for native-born workers remains low.