Labor Force Characteristics Of Foreign Born Workers In 2004.

The unemployment rate for the foreign born fell to 5.5 percent in 2004, down from 6.6 percent in the prior year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The jobless rate of the native born also fell to 5.5 percent in 2004, declining from 5.9 percent in the previous year. This news release compares the labor force characteristics of the foreign born with those of their nativeborn counterparts. The 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.

Labor Force and Unemployment

In 2004, there were 21.4 million foreign-born persons in the United States labor force, comprising 14.5 percent of the total. (See table 1.) From 2002 to 2004, the number of foreign-born labor force participants grew by about 1.2 million on net and accounted for a little less than half of total labor force growth over the same period.

A little over two-thirds of foreign-born persons 16 years and over were in the labor force in 2004, about the same proportion as in the previous 2 years. Over the year, the labor force participation rate for the native born edged down from 66.1 to 65.7 percent.

Foreign-born men were more likely to be labor force participants (81.1 percent) than their native-born counterparts (72.0 percent). In contrast, foreign-born women were less likely to be labor force participants than native-born women—53.8 versus 60.0 percent. Over the year, the labor force participation rates of both men and women were about unchanged for the foreign born, while they edged down for their nativeborn counterparts.

Among the major race/ethnic groups, labor force participation of foreign-born non-Hispanic blacks edged down over the year. Among the native born, labor force participation declined for non-Hispanic Asians, but edged up for Hispanics or Latinos.

The labor force participation rate for foreign-born women with children under 18 was 58.4 percent in 2004, compared with 73.0 percent for native-born mothers. Participation rates for both groups were down from the prior year—by 1.2 and 0.6 percentage points, respectively. About 94 percent of both foreign-born and native-born fathers with children under 18 were in the labor force in 2004.

The over-the-year decline in the unemployment rate of foreign-born workers—from 6.6 percent in 2003 to 5.5 percent in 2004—reflected declines in the rates for both men and women. The unemployment rate for foreign-born men fell from 6.2 to 5.0 percent, and the rate for foreign-born women declined from 7.1 to 6.3 percent. Among the native born, the unemployment rate for men declined from 6.3 percent in 2003 to 5.8 percent in 2004, while the rate for women was little changed.

Occupation

The largest group of foreign-born workers was employed in management, professional, and related occupations (26.5 percent) in 2004. This was also the case for native-born workers, with 36.3 percent of them employed in this occupational category. An additional 22.8 percent of foreign-born workers were employed in service occupations and 18.4 percent were in sales and office occupations, as were 15.2 and 26.7 percent, respectively, of the native-born workers.

Reflecting the downward trend in manufacturing employment as a whole, the proportions of both foreignborn and native-born workers employed in production, transportation, and material moving occupations declined from 2000 to 2004. In 2000, 20.4 percent of foreign-born and 13.8 percent of native-born workers were employed in these occupations. In 2004, the proportions were 17.5 percent for the foreign born and 12.1 percent for the native born.

Earnings

In 2004, the median usual weekly earnings of foreign-born full-time wage and salary workers ($502), were 75.6 percent of those of their native-born counterparts ($664). The earnings of foreign-born men ($518) were 69.1 percent of those of native-born men ($749), while foreign-born women had earnings ($473) that were 81.0 percent of those of native-born women ($585). While earnings for both the foreignborn and native-born groups rose over the year, the increase was relatively smaller for the foreign born (2.7 percent) than for their native-born counterparts (3.3 percent). The foreign-to-native-born earnings gap is narrower at higher education levels. For example, the median usual weekly earnings of foreign-born fulltime wage and salary workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher ($943) were 94.9 percent of those of their native-born counterparts ($994) in 2004.

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