What you’re not hearing about who are all those new immigrants in the labor force

Without immigration since mid-2022, jobs reports would have been, on average, 85 thousand lower every month. Native-born employment is lower today than it was at the pre-pandemic peak, with 23% of the adult population older than 65. Of the 3.2 million new immigrants, 56% are employed, an employment-to-population ratio lower than the native-born or the prior foreign-born; it is their sheer number that is adding to labor market growth so markedly. A small majority are men, unlike the rest of the population. More women than men work, also unlike the rest of the population. A small majority are Hispanic, and none are white. The Hispanic new immigrants have a higher employment-to-population ratio than the native-born or prior foreign-born. Immigrants have less higher-education, but a smaller proportion have no high school diploma than the prior foreign born. The less educated have higher employment-to population ratios. The immigrants are, surprisingly, not much different in age, except there is a larger share of the youngest 16-24 cohort. The immigrants’ prime-age population is smaller by proportion, but has a much higher employment-to-population ratio.