- WASHINGTON Less-educated,
younger, and minority American workers face the worst job market in decades,
far worse than their more educated counterparts. However, the situation
for these workers was very difficult even before the current recession.
A report from the Center for Immigration Studies examines their employment
situation in the second quarters of both 2007 (before the recession) and
2010. Younger and less-educated workers are the most likely to be in competition
with immigrants legal and illegal.
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- The report, "From Bad to Worse: Unemployment and
Underemployment Among Less-Educated U.S.-Born Workers, 2007 to 2010,"
is available online.
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- Among the findings:
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- Younger and less-educated natives often do the same jobs
as immigrants. During the second quarter of 2010, in the occupations employing
the most young and less-educated U.S.-born adults, one in five workers
was an immigrant.
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- In the second quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate
for U.S.-born adults who have not completed high school was 20.8 percent.
But even in the second quarter of 2007, before the recession, it was 11.1
percent.
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- Using the broader measure of unemployment that includes
those who want to work but have not looked recently, and those forced to
work part-time (the U-6 unemployment rate), the rate for those who haven't
completed high school was 29.3 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and
18.7 percent in the same quarter of 2007.
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- The unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers who have
only a high school education and are 18 to 29 was 20 percent in the second
quarter of 2010. But even before the recession in 2007 it was 9.6 percent
in 2007.
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- The broader measure of unemployment for 18- to 29-year-old
U.S.-born workers with only a high school education was 29.2 percent in
the second quarter of 2010. It was still 16.6 percent in 2007.
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- The unemployment rate for U.S.-born black workers without
a high education is currently 29 percent. Using the broader measure of
unemployment it is an astonishing 39.8 percent.
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- The unemployment rate for U.S.-born black workers with
only a high school education who are 18 to 29 is currently 22.9 percent.
It is 32.4 percent using the boarder measure of unemployment.
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- The unemployment rate for U.S.-born Hispanic workers
without a high education is currently 22.9 percent. It is 32.4 percent
using the boarder measure of unemployment.
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- The unemployment rate for U.S.-born Hispanic workers
with only a high education who are 18 to 29 is currently 23.3 percent.
It is 33 percent using the boarder measure of unemployment.
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- In the second quarter of 2010 the unemployment rate of
U.S.-born teens (16 and 17) was 31 percent. It was 38 percent using the
boarder measure.
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- The total number of young and less-educated U.S.-born
workers unemployed is enormous. If we look at the broad measure of unemployment
for all workers who lack a high school education or have only a high school
education and are young (18 to 29) or are teenagers (16-17), 6.3 million
were unemployed in the second quarter of 2010.
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- In addition to the 6.3 million unemployed or underemployed,
there were another 16 million of these younger and less-educated individuals
who were entirely out of the labor market. That is, they were not working,
nor were they looking for work, even using the broadest measure of unemployment.
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- To place these numbers in the perspective, there are
an estimated seven to eight million illegal immigrants holding jobs.
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- Policy Discussion: One argument for amnesty and increased
future immigration is that there are not enough Americans workers to do
jobs that require relatively little education, such as construction labor,
cleaning and maintenance, food service and preparation, delivery, and light
manufacturing. However, the employment data analysis by the Center for
Immigration Studies does not support these assertions. Unemployment is
extremely high among the least-educated Americans who often do these kinds
of jobs. In fact, the employment situation for such workers was very high
even before the current recession began. Thus it is very difficult to find
any evidence to support the contention that the country needs large-scale
unskilled immigration. Since there is an abundance of such workers already
in the country, employers who have difficulty finding workers may need
to offer better pay and working conditions in order to attract Americans.
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- Methodology: All figures in this report are calculated
from the public use files of the Current Population Survey, collected by
the Census Bureau, for second quarters of 2007 and 2010. Figures are seasonally
unadjusted. Figures for U.S.-born blacks are for those who chose only one
race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics can be of any race and are not included
in the figures for other races.
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- The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent
research institute which examines the impact of immigration on the United
States
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