National Data | March Jobs: Eight Years of American Gains Wiped Out By Immigrants
04/04/2009
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U.S. workers were hammered again in March with large payroll losses, pushing the total number of jobs lost since the recession began to 5.1 million, according to the Labor Department. (See the report: PDF) Payroll employment fell by 663,000 in March. The other employment survey—of Households rather than businesses—revealed an even steeper decline—861,000. Non-Hispanics bore the brunt of the month's bloodbath:

  • Total employment: -861,000 (-0.61 percent)
  • Non-Hispanic employment: -817,000 (-0.67 percent)
  • Hispanic employment: -44,000 (-0.22 percent)

Because so many Hispanics are immigrants or the children of immigrants, Hispanic employment is the best proxy we have for the impact of immigration on employment. The ratio of Hispanic to non-Hispanic job growth is a strong indication of how immigrants have fared relative to native-born workers. Hispanics lost jobs at only one-third the rate of non-Hispanics in March. VDARE.com's Index of American Worker Displacement (VDAWDI)—reflecting the ratio of Hispanic to non-Hispanic job loss since January 2001—rose to 122.3—its highest reading since December 2008. March's job losses finally wiped out more than eight years of non-Hispanic employment gains. Here are the employment shifts from January 2001 to March 2009:

  • Total employment: +3,109,000 (+2.26 percent)
  • Non-Hispanic employment: -411,000 (-0.34 percent)
  • Hispanic employment: +3,522,000 (+21.85 percent)

The graphic demonstrates the situation starkly. The blue line is the index of Hispanic job growth; pink is the non-Hispanic index; yellow the ratio of Hispanic to non-Hispanic job growth indices. All lines start at 100.0 in January 2001. The blue (Hispanic) line skyrocketed to a high of 128.0 in November 2007, stumbled during the recession, but is still well above its January 2001 level. (In March it was at 121.9.) The pink (non-Hispanic) line fell during the malaise of early Bush II years, recovered weakly to 103.6 in November 2007. Pushed down during the recession, it managed to stay above 100.0—until March's coup de grace. For non-Hispanic workers the Keynesian long-run has arrived.

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