FRED has data for various segments of the US labor force, including employment of native-born and foreign-born workers. Today’s post taps into unemployment data for these groups.
The FRED graph above shows US Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the fraction of the native-born labor force (solid blue line) and foreign-born labor force (dashed green line) who are out of a job and actively seeking one.
These data don’t show major differences between the groups, but recent research from Alexander Bick at the St. Louis Fed uncovered nuances in the data. He used the BLS survey that collects household labor market information to examine unemployment rates of immigrants according to how long they had resided in the US.
Between 2014 and 2024, immigrants in the US for more than 3 years often had slightly lower unemployment than native-born workers. More-recent immigrants often had higher unemployment than both those groups.
Average unemployment rates since 2022
- Non-recent immigrants 3.3%
- U.S. natives 3.8%
- Recent immigrants 7.6%
Bick’s analysis also considers the potential effects of undercounting immigrants. If unemployed immigrants are undercounted to a large-enough degree, actual demand for labor may be weaker than what official data show. But he finds the impact to be small: In October 2024, an estimate of unreported recent immigrants would have increased the overall unemployment rate by 0.1 percentage points.
For more about this and other research, visit the publications page of the St. Louis Fed’s website, which offers an array of economic analysis and expertise provided by our staff.
How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Unemployment Rate – Native Born.” Click on the “Edit Graph” button, select the “Add Line” tab, and search for “Unemployment Rate – Foreign Born.” Don’t forget to click “Add data series.”
Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.