24,639,000: Record Number of Foreign-Born Hold Jobs in U.S.

The number of foreign-born individuals holding jobs in the United States hit a recorded high of 24,639,000 in August, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS has been tracking the number of foreign-born workers annually since 2005 and monthly since 2007.

The BLS does not distinguish between foreign-born individuals who are in the United States legally and those who are here illegally.

“The foreign born are those 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 BLS explains. “The foreign born include legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants ...

In the year from August 2013 to August 2014, the number of foreign-born workers holding jobs in the United States climbed by 806,000, from 23,833,000 to 24,639,000.

 During the same August-to-August period, the number of native-born Americans holding jobs increased from 120,676,000 to 122,008,000, a climb of 1,332,000 ...

... of the 2,138,000 increase in jobholders from August 2013 to August 2014, the 806,000 increase in foreign-born jobholders equaled 37.7 percent of the total ...