Thread: Fewer jobs spells fewer immigrants

Fewer jobs spells fewer immigrants
Jersey among states drawing less migration as the economy falters

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A faltering U.S. economy slowed the flow of immigrants into the United States dramatically last year, with New Jersey among more than a dozen states experiencing a drop in immigration over the prior year.

But the state continued to have one of the highest rates of foreign-born residents, according to the new data released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The nation added about a half-million immigrants in 2007, down from more than 1.8 million the year before, according to the Census' annual release of American Community Survey data, which looks at the social, economic and housing characteristics of the population.

"The U.S. is still a beacon for many people who want to come here for all kinds of reasons," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the numbers. "But what this shows is that the economy plays a big part in it."

Fourteen states showed declines in the estimated number of immigrants from 2006 to 2007, including New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont and South Dakota.

The falloff in immigration, especially in New Jersey, comes as no surprise to James Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Policy and Planning at Rutgers University.

"I'd be shocked if it didn't given the slow job growth in the state," said Hughes, who blamed the decline on a stunted economy.

"We should be less of a magnet than we had been," he said. "Word gets around in the immigrant community on where the good jobs are."

New Jersey was producing some 74,000 private-sector jobs annually from 1992 to 2000, a number that fell off to about 23,000 a year from 2004 to 2006, Hughes said.

"But in 2007 we virtually flatlined," he said, citing just 3,700 new private-sector jobs last year.

This year is far worse, he said, with New Jersey losing 14,600 jobs during the first eight months of 2008.

"Homebuilding is in the tank," Hughes said, noting that immigrants often find work in the construction industry.

The U.S. has added an average of about a million immigrants a year since 1990, including those in the country legally and illegally.

At more than 38 million, the number of immigrants in the U.S. is now at an all-time high. Immigrants made up 12.6 percent of the population in 2007, the largest share since 1920, near the end of the last immigration boom.

Because the estimates come from a survey, each includes a margin of sampling error that makes year-to-year comparisons inexact. Annual immigration changes for many states and cities were within the margins of error, but the national trend was statistically significant: The immigration wave slowed substantially in 2007.

"Immigrants have always come to the United States for jobs, but before they went to big immigration magnets to be with family or other immigrants," Frey said. "Now the geography of where these people move is much more tied to the economy than ever before."

A little more than half of U.S. immigrants are from Latin America and about a quarter are from Asia. About 13 percent are from Europe and 4 percent from Africa.

The Census Bureau does not ask about legal status when compiling its estimates. Government and private estimates put the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. at about 12 million.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/in ... xml&coll=1

A faltering U.S. economy slowed the flow of immigrants into the United States dramatically last year, with New Jersey among more than a dozen states experiencing a drop in immigration over the prior year.

Yeah but the large number of anchor baby births are probably more than compensating for the small shortfall in aliens entering through our borders illegally. The anchor babies may not be taking jobs but the financial costs to taxpayers is indisputable. They're getting us coming and going.

"The U.S. has added an average of about a million immigrants a year since 1990, including those in the country legally and illegally."


wrong. It's close to 1 million a year legally. And another 500k illegally, and maybe 1 million per year illegally 2003-2005.