Washington, D.C. (May 22, 2020) - Analysis of the new state-level employment data by the Center for Immigration Studies shows that in most of the top immigrant-receiving states unemployment is higher for the foreign-born than the native-born. The primary reason for this is that immigrants are more likely to work in sectors of the economy that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 shutdown, such as hospitality and retail.
The analysis is at: https://cis.org/Report/Employment-Situation-Immigrants-and-Natives-April-2020 (State-level numbers on unemployment and labor force participation are in tables 6 through 9.)
“The state unemployment numbers released today paint a bleak picture. It just makes no sense in this environment to continue to give out so many work permits to foreign workers,” said Steven Camarota, the Center's Director of Research and co-author of the report.
Among the findings:
· Among the top 16 immigration states, immigrants fared the worst relative to natives in:
Massachusetts — immigrant unemployment 28%, native unemployment 14%.
Nevada — immigrant unemployment 40%, native unemployment 27%.
Hawaii — immigrant unemployment 31%, native unemployment 20%.
Georgia — immigrant unemployment 18%, native unemployment 12%.
New York — immigrant unemployment 20%, native unemployment 15%.
New Jersey — immigrant unemployment 20%, native unemployment 15%.
Washington — immigrant unemployment 20%, native unemployment 16%.
Virginia — immigrant unemployment 14%, native unemployment 10%.
Texas — immigrant unemployment 15%, native unemployment 12%.
· In four others — California, New Mexico, Florida, and Maryland — immigrants and natives have roughly similar unemployment rates.
· Rounding out the top 16 immigrant states were Illinois, North Carolina, and Arizona, where immigrants have a somewhat lower level of unemployment:
Illinois — immigrant unemployment 14%, native unemployment 18%.
North Carolina — immigrant unemployment 10%, native unemployment 13%.
Arizona — immigrant unemployment 11%, native unemployment 14%.
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