MPI Data Hub Graph

Monthly Estimates of the Total Foreign-Born and Mexican/Central American-Born Labor Force, January 2000 to December 2010

Notes: Estimates are based on a three-month moving average. The civilian labor force includes all civilians age 16 and older who were classified as employed or unemployed during the survey's reference week. The "Mexico and Central America" category includes foreign born from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. "Foreign born" refers to people residing in the United States who were not US citizens at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, certain legal non-immigrants (e.g., refugees and persons on student or work visas), and persons illegally residing in the United States.

Source: Migration Policy Institute analysis of US Census Bureau's Basic Current Population Survey, January 2000 to December 2010.

Further reading:
Migration and Immigrants Two Years after the Financial Collapse: Where Do We Stand?
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou,æMadeleine Sumption, and Aaron Terrazas with Carola Burkert, Stephen Loyal, and Ruth Ferrero-Turrión
Immigrants, particularly men and youth, have been disproportionately hit by the global economic crisis that began in fall 2008 and now confront a reality of dwindling budgets for public services and immigrant integration programs. The report, which has a particular focus on Germany, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, finds that the unemployment gap between immigrant and native workers has widened in many places. It offers analysis of a number of trends, including the fact that some immigrant-destination countries that historically have been countries of emigration, such as Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, may be reverting to earlier trends.