Washington, D.C., April 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Washington, D.C. (April 11, 2019) - A new Center for Immigration Studies analysis of government data shows that nationally the labor force participation rate — those working or looking for work — has not returned to pre-2007 recession levels. Data from the fourth quarter of 2018 are particularly bad for native-born people without a bachelor's degree. In nearly every state the labor force participation of non-college natives (ages 18 to 64) has not returned to 2007 levels, which in most cases was already lower than at the last peak in 2000.

Dr. Steven Camarota, the Center's director of research, said, "Business groups may point to the low unemployment rate as they lobby for more foreign workers, but unemployment statistics obscure the enormous number of people who are out of the labor market entirely and therefore do not show up as 'unemployed'. There is a large pool of potential workers in the country who could fill jobs that require modest education."

View the full report: https://cis.org/Report/Employment-Situation-Immigrants-and-Natives-Fourth-Quarter-2018

Among Native-Born Americans:

• The low national unemployment rate (3.7 percent) for natives in the fourth quarter of 2018 obscures the low labor force participation rate, especially for those without a bachelor's degree.
• There has been a long-term downward decline in the labor force participation rate of working-age (18 to 64) natives without a bachelor's degree. Only 70.7 were in the labor force — working or looking for work — in the fourth quarter of 2018; in 2007, before the recession, it was 74.3 percent, and in the fourth quarter of 2000 it was 76.4 percent.
• The decline in the labor force participation rate of natives without a college degree shows little meaningful improvement in the last six years. There was no improvement between 2017 and 2018 and rate in 2012 was actually slightly higher than it was in 2018.
• The decline in labor force participation of less-educated natives is even more profound relative to the more educated. In the fourth quarter of 2018, 70.7 percent of natives without a bachelor's degree were in the labor force, compared to 86.6 percent of those with a bachelor's degree — a 15.8 percentage-point difference. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the gap was 12.3 percentage points, and in the fourth quarter of 2000 the gap was 10.9 percentage points.
• In only 3 states has the labor force participation of non-college natives (ages 18 to 64) returned to 2007 levels; and, there is not one state where the rate in 2018 was as high as it had been in 2000.

Among Immigrants:

• Working-age immigrants without a college education also have struggled since the recession. However, unlike natives, immigrants without a college education did improve their situation between 2000 and 2007. Also unlike natives the labor force participation of immigrants improved in the last year, but it has still not returned to 2007 levels. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the labor force participation rate of immigrants (18 to 64) without a bachelor's degree was 73.5 percent, somewhat better than that of natives, but still below their rate of 74.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Immigrants and Natives Not in the Labor Force:

• In the fourth quarter of 2018, there were a total 47.6 million immigrants and natives ages 18 to 64 not in the labor force (all education levels), up from 42.1 million in 2007 and 36.6 million in 2000.
• Of the 47.6 million currently not in the labor force, 37.7 million (79.4 percent) did not have a bachelor's degree.
• The above figures do not include the unemployed, who are considered to be part of the labor force because, although they are not working, they are looking for work. There were 5.8 million unemployed immigrants and natives in the fourth quarter of this year; more than three-fourths of the unemployed do not have a bachelor's degree.

Contact:
Marguerite Telford
Director of Communications, Center for Immigration Studies
(202) 466-8185
mrt@cis.org

Marguerite Telford, Director of Communications
Center for Immigration Studies
202-466-8185
mrt@cis.org