assuming the following story is true, what does it tell us about the quality of all those "new" jobs?
R
Almost 30% of New Jobs Are Going to Immigrants
High number of non-citizens benefiting from labor market turnaround, study says
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Los Angeles Times Thursday, June 17, 2004
http://www.hispaniconline.com/buss&finn/article.html?SMContentIndex=1&SMContentSet=0
Washington -- Immigrants are filling nearly three out of every 10 new jobs in the rebounding U.S. economy, a development that may dilute the political dividend to President Bush from an election- year recovery, a study released Wednesday concludes.
The report by the non-partisan Pew Hispanic Center found that workers who are not U.S. citizens claimed 378,496 jobs out of a net increase of 1.3 million from the first three months of 2003 through the first three months of this year.
The share of jobs going to non-citizens -- 28.5% -- was particularly notable because workers who are not U.S. citizens account for less than 9% of all those holding jobs in the United States.
"The proportion of new jobs captured by non-citizens was . . . much larger than their share of overall employment," said the report, prepared by labor economist Rakesh Kochhar. "Thus, the political impact of job gains may be damped by the fact that non- citizens are benefiting disproportionately from the turnaround in the labor market."
Roberto Suro, director of the center, said in an interview that "the turnaround is being fueled to a substantial extent by the demand for immigrant labor. And as a result, a substantial chunk of the new jobs are going to people who are not voters."
The study is likely to sharpen the debate about the role of immigrant workers in America, the quality of new jobs and the impact of globalization. Most economists have tended to minimize the impact of large numbers of immigrants entering the U.S. job market, but the Pew findings may bolster those who challenge that view.
Low-end jobs, wages
The high proportion of new jobs going to recent immigrants may reflect the fact that the current recovery has thus far been different from most upturns. In recent months, as overall job growth has begun to improve, most of the new jobs appear to have come in categories that require relatively low skills and pay relatively low wages -- the kinds of jobs for which new immigrants are strong competitors.
In the past, the early stages of economic recoveries have been marked by growth in industrial jobs that pay above-average wages.
Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute think tank, said his analysis supports the idea that "the occupations that are gaining are on the low end."
He added that his own research shows that the recovery has not paid much of a dividend in terms of rising wages. "We see wage growth far less than you would expect at this stage," he said.
The Pew report also found that, although recent Hispanic immigrants are gaining jobs, the weekly earnings of Hispanics as a whole -- including the native-born and those who are long-term U.S. residents -- have declined in comparison with those of white and black Americans.
The center, which specializes in social and economic research on the U.S. Hispanic population, based its findings on an analysis of government surveys used to determine the unemployment rate. The study is the first to compare the job gains of citizens and non- citizens in the current economic recovery.
Immigration factor
The underlying data used in the report does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. However, a large proportion of Hispanic workers who arrived recently are believed to be undocumented. An estimated 8 million to 12 million U.S. residents are illegal immigrants.
Bush and Democratic congressional leaders are on record as favoring more liberal U.S. immigration policies.
Bush has proposed a guest-worker program open to illegal immigrants already here and to migrants wishing to come in the future; guest workers could stay as long as six years. Democrats favor granting green cards to illegal immigrants already here, but restricting the entry of future guest workers.
Proponents of restricting immigration said the findings suggest that a broader cross-section of U.S. employers has developed a preference for undocumented workers.
"When we think about job creation, that it must be good for Americans, that may not be what's going on exactly," said Steven Camarota, research director for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies, which favors curbs on immigration.
Others said the data is too narrow to support such sweeping conclusions. Demographer Jeffrey Passel of the Urban Institute think tank noted that the U.S. economy employs more than 130 million workers. In that context, a change of 400,000 jobs, or even 1.3 million, is relatively minor, he said.
"It may look like some group is going gangbusters, when it really is a rather small change," Passel said.
(C) 2004 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved