June Jobs—American Worker Displacement Returns To Record High, Although Influx May Be Ebbing

In the months after Donald Trump’s election, immigrant displacement of American workers and growth of the foreign-born workforce (including illegals) seemed to be reversing so consistently that we were surprised when April’s job data suddenly undid all the gains. We wondered if it was statistical noise. The June jobs data, released Friday, brings good news and bad news. The good news: the immigrant population of working age, while still increasing, is below the estimated legal inflow: June’s net figure – 497,000—is less than one-third the year over year inflows reported for the months prior to the election. This probably means that a gross exodus of illegals continues.  The bad news: the foreign-born share of total employment rose to 17.2% in June, matching the Obama-era high set in August of last year. Our take: Trump’s strong economy is producing jobs, but the stock of immigrants in the country, as well as the (possibly reduced but still high) net influx, is so large that Americans are still being beaten out in the job market, basically because immigrants are willing to work for less. 

MEMO TO TRUMP: WE NEED A WALL, WE NEED E-VERIFY—AND ULTIMATELY WE NEED AN IMMIGRATION MORATORIUM...