For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, May 18, 2017 USDL-17-0618
Technical information: (202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
FOREIGN-BORN WORKERS: LABOR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS -- 2016
The unemployment rate for foreign-born persons in the United States was 4.3 percent in 2016,
down from 4.9 percent in 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless
rate of native-born persons fell to 5.0 percent in 2016 from 5.4 percent in the prior year.
Data on nativity are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly
sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. The foreign born are persons who reside in
the United States but who were born outside the country or one of its outlying areas to parents
who were not U.S. citizens. The foreign born include legally-admitted immigrants, refugees,
temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants. The
survey data, however, do not separately identify the numbers of persons in these categories.
For further information about the survey, see the Technical Note in this news release.
Highlights from the 2016 data:
--In 2016, there were 27.0 million foreign-born persons in the U.S. labor force,
comprising 16.9 percent of the total. (See table 1.)
--Hispanics accounted for 48.3 percent of the foreign-born labor force in 2016,
and Asians accounted for 25.0 percent. (See table 1.) (Data in this news release
for persons who are White, Black, or Asian do not include those of Hispanic or
Latino ethnicity. Data on persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity are presented
separately.)
--Foreign-born workers were more likely than native-born workers to be employed in
service occupations and less likely to be employed in management, professional,
and related occupations. (See table 4.)
--The median usual weekly earnings of foreign-born full-time wage and salary workers
were $715 in 2016, compared with $860 for their native-born counterparts. (See
table 5.) (Differences in earnings reflect a variety of factors, including
variations in the distributions of foreign-born and native-born workers by
educational attainment, occupation, industry, and geographic region.)
Demographic Characteristics
The demographic composition of the foreign-born labor force differs from that of the
native-born labor force. In 2016, men accounted for 57.9 percent of the foreign-born
labor force, compared with 52.3 percent of the native-born labor force. By age, the
proportion of the foreign-born labor force made up of 25- to 54-year-olds (73.4 percent)
was higher than for the native-born labor force (62.4 percent). Labor force participation
is typically highest among persons in that age bracket. (See table 1.)
In 2016, nearly half (48.3 percent) of the foreign-born labor force was Hispanic, and
one-quarter (25.0 percent) was Asian, compared with 10.4 percent and 1.9 percent,
respectively, of the native-born labor force. About 16.2 percent of the foreign-born
labor force was White and 9.3 percent was Black, compared with 73.0 percent and 12.1
percent, respectively, of the native-born labor force.
In 2016, 22.4 percent of the foreign-born labor force age 25 and over had not completed
high school, compared with 4.5 percent of the native-born labor force. The foreign born
were less likely than the native born to have some college or an associate degree--17.0
percent versus 29.8 percent. The proportions for foreign-born and native-born persons
were more similar for those with a bachelor's degree or higher (35.9 percent and 39.6
percent, respectively) and for high school graduates, no college (24.7 percent and 26.1
percent, respectively).
Labor Force
The share of the U.S. civilian labor force that was foreign born increased to 16.9
percent in 2016 from 16.7 percent in 2015; it was 13.3 percent in 2000. (See table 1.)
In 2016, the labor force participation rate of the foreign born was 65.2 percent,
unchanged from the prior year. The participation rate for the native born was 62.3
percent in 2016, little different from 2015. The participation rate of foreign-born
men was 77.8 percent in 2016, higher than the rate of 67.5 percent for native-born men.
In contrast, 53.4 percent of foreign-born women were labor force participants, lower
than the rate of 57.5 percent for native-born women.
Among the major race and ethnicity groups in 2016, labor force participation rates for
foreign-born Whites (59.0 percent), Blacks (70.1 percent), Asians (63.1 percent), and
Hispanics (67.9 percent) were little different from the prior year. The participation
rates for native-born Whites (62.4 percent), Blacks (60.1 percent), Asians (62.6 percent),
and Hispanics (64.0 percent) also showed little change from 2015 to 2016.
In 2016, foreign-born mothers with children under 18 years old were less likely to be
labor force participants than were native-born mothers--58.9 percent versus 73.9 percent.
Labor force participation differences between foreign-born and native-born mothers were
greater among those with younger children than among those with older children. The
labor force participation rate of foreign-born mothers with children under age 6 was
49.5 percent in 2016, much lower than that for native-born mothers with children under
age 6, at 69.0 percent. Among women with children under age 3, the participation rate
for the foreign born (44.3 percent) was 22.1 percentage points below that for native
-born mothers (66.4 percent). The labor force participation rates of foreign-born and
native-born fathers with children under age 18 were more similar, at 93.5 percent and
92.6 percent, respectively. (See table 2.)
By region, the foreign born made up a larger share of the labor force in the West
(24.1 percent) and the Northeast (19.5 percent) than for the nation as a whole (16.9
percent) in 2016. In contrast, the foreign born made up a smaller share of the labor
force than for the nation as a whole in the South (16.1 percent) and the Midwest (8.6
percent). (See table 6.)
Unemployment
From 2015 to 2016, the unemployment rate of the foreign born declined from 4.9 percent
to 4.3 percent, and the jobless rate for the native born fell from 5.4 percent to 5.0
percent. The over-the-year decrease in the unemployment rates of the foreign born and
the native born reflected decreases in the rates for both men and women. The
unemployment rate for foreign-born men fell from 4.5 percent to 3.8 percent, and the
rate for foreign-born women was down from 5.6 percent to 5.1 percent. Among the native
born, the rate for men fell from 5.6 percent to 5.2 percent, while the rate for women
was down from 5.1 percent to 4.7 percent. (See table 1.)
For both the foreign born and the native born, jobless rates vary considerably by race
and ethnicity. Among the foreign born, Blacks had the highest unemployment rate (6.1
percent) in 2016. The unemployment rates were 4.7 percent for Hispanics, 3.7 percent
for Whites, and 3.4 percent for Asians. Among the native born, Blacks also had the
highest jobless rate (8.8 percent), followed by Hispanics (6.8 percent). The
unemployment rates were 4.2 percent for Asians and 4.0 percent for Whites.
Occupation
In 2016, foreign-born workers were more likely than native-born workers to be employed
in service occupations (23.5 percent versus 16.5 percent); in production, transportation,
and material moving occupations (14.8 percent versus 11.1 percent); and in natural
resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (13.6 percent versus 8.3 percent).
(See table 4.)
Native-born workers were more likely than foreign-born workers to be employed in
management, professional, and related occupations (40.7 percent versus 32.2 percent)
and in sales and office occupations (23.4 percent versus 15.9 percent).
Among the employed, foreign-born men were more likely than native-born men to work in
natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations; in production,
transportation, and material moving occupations; and in service occupations. Compared
with employed native-born women, employed foreign-born women were more likely to be in
service occupations; in production, transportation, and material moving occupations;
and in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations. The disparity was
especially great in service occupations--32.5 percent of employed foreign-born women
worked in service occupations in 2016, compared with 19.4 percent of employed native-
born women. In contrast, employed native-born men and women were more likely than their
foreign-born counterparts to be in management, professional, and related occupations
and in sales and office occupations.
Earnings
In 2016, the median usual weekly earnings of foreign-born full-time wage and salary
workers ($715) were 83.1 percent of the earnings of their native-born counterparts
($860). Among men, median weekly earnings for the foreign born ($751) were 79.0 percent
of the earnings of the native born ($951). Median earnings for foreign-born women ($655)
were 86.0 percent of the earnings of their native-born counterparts ($762). Differences
in earnings reflect a variety of factors, including variations in the distributions of
foreign-born and native-born workers by educational attainment, occupation, industry,
and geographic region. (See table 5.)
Among the major race and ethnicity groups, Hispanic foreign-born full-time wage and
salary workers earned 83.5 percent as much as their native-born counterparts in 2016.
For Black workers, earnings for the foreign born and the native born were relatively
close. For White and Asian workers, earnings for the foreign born were slightly higher
than for the native born.
The earnings of both foreign-born and native-born workers increase with education. In
2016, foreign-born workers age 25 and over with less than a high school education earned
$489 per week, while those with a bachelor's degree and higher earned about 2.7 times as
much--$1,311 per week. Among the native born, those with a bachelor's degree and higher
earned about 2.4 times as much as those with less than a high school education--$1,253
versus $525 per week.
Native-born workers earn more than foreign-born workers at most educational attainment
levels. Among foreign-born full-time workers, those with less than a high school diploma
earned 93.1 percent as much as their native-born counterparts, compared with 85.8 percent
for high school graduates, no college, and 90.0 percent for those with some college or an
associate's degree. The gap between the earnings of foreign-born and native-born workers
closes at higher levels of education; among those with a bachelor's degree and higher,
the earnings of foreign-born workers ($1,311) were not much different from the earnings
of native-born workers ($1,253).
