01/11/2011
The U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs in December, well below expectations of most economists. Offsetting the gloom: the private sector accounted for all of the job growth (governments actually shed 10,000 jobs), while the unemployment rate fell to 9.4% from 9.8%.[See the BLS news release here.]
The economy needs to create about 125,000 jobs a month just to keep up with growth in the U.S. labor force — which (not usually reported) includes immigrants entering the labor market along with recent high school and college graduates, many of them the U.S.-born children of immigrants. That threshold was more than met last month, according to the often-ignored Household Survey of employment.
The Household Survey reports 297,000 new jobs were created in December, the largest hiring increase since August. For the third successive month VDARE.COM’s American Worker Displacement Index (VDAWDI) fell in December, as Hispanic job gains lagged those of non-Hispanics:
Total employment: up 297,000 (0.21 percent)
Hispanic employment: up 17,000 (0.09 percent)
Non-Hispanic employment: up 280,000 (0.24 percent)
VDARE.COM’s American Worker Displacement Index (VDAWDI) fell to 125.9 in December, as Hispanics gained jobs at about one-third the rate of non-Hispanics:
But don’t read too much into the latest numbers. December is always a problematic leading indicator as seasonal noise — including Mexican immigrants' habit of going home for Christmas — often obscures the longer term trend. Overall, the displacement of non-Hispanic workers by Hispanics has been a fact of life for decades, and shows no sign of abating during the (so-called) recovery.
From the official end of the recession (June 2009) through December non-Hispanics have lost 1.1 million jobs while Hispanic employment is up by 297,000.
For every 1,000 Hispanics employed in June 2009 there were 1,015 employed in December 2010
For every 1,000 non-Hispanics employed in June 2009 there were 991employed in December 2010
Hispanic employment has been, of course, a convenient proxy for our primary interest: foreign-born workers and their role in displacing their native-born counterparts. Recently, the federal government finally began including data on the foreign-born in the Household Survey. These figures from the Household Survey makes clear that December 2010 saw a continuation of American worker displacement:
|
Employment Status by Nativity, Dec. 2009- Dec. 2010 (numbers in 1000s; not seasonally adjusted) |
||||
|
|
Dec-09 |
Dec-10 |
Change |
% Change |
|
|
Foreign born, 16 years and older |
|||
|
Civilian population |
35,575 |
36,545 |
970 |
2.7% |
|
Civilian labor force |
23,920 |
24,783 |
863 |
3.6% |
|
Employed |
21,290 |
22,153 |
863 |
4.1% |
|
Employment/population ratio |
59.8 |
60.6 |
0.8 |
1.3% |
|
Unemployed |
2,630 |
2,630 |
0.0 |
0.0% |
|
Unemployment rate (%) |
11.0 |
10.6 |
-0.4 |
-3.6% |
|
Not in labor force |
11,655 |
11,762 |
107 |
0.9% |
|
|
Native born, 16 years and older |
|||
|
Civilian population |
201,349 |
202,344 |
995 |
0.5% |
|
Civilian labor force |
128,773 |
128,373 |
-400 |
-0.3% |
|
Employed |
116,663 |
117,006 |
343 |
0.3% |
|
Employment/population ratio |
57.9 |
57.8 |
-0.1 |
-0.2% |
|
Unemployed |
12,110 |
11,367 |
-743 |
-6.1% |
|
Unemployment rate (%) |
9.4 |
8.9 |
-0.5 |
-5.3% |
|
Not in labor force |
72,576 |
73,971 |
1,395 |
1.9% |
|
Source: BLS, "The Employment Situation — December 2010,"January 7, 2011. Table A-7. |
||||
Over the past 12 months:
The foreign-born population rose 2.7%, more than five-times the growth rate of native-born
The immigrant labor force (people working or looking for work) increased by 3.6%; the native labor force declined by 0.2%
Foreign-born employment rose by 4.1%; native employment rose by 0.3%
The share of natives holding jobs fell 0.2%; the share of foreign-born with jobs rose by 1.3%
The unemployment rate for natives fell mainly because nearly 1.4 million natives left the labor force – too discouraged to look for work.
The Household Survey canvasses people rather than large employers. People who work for small businesses, "off the books," or are self employed will show up in the Household Survey. That includes many illegal aliens.
We've scanned several MSM articles on December jobs: New York Times — Slow Job Growth Dims Expectation of Early Revival, MarketWatch — Jobless rate down to 9.4% as 103,000 jobs added Economic Report, and the AP Employers Added 103,000 Jobs in December; Jobless Rate Falls to 9.4%
Not one mentions the Household Survey or the ongoing immigrant job grab taking place at the expense of American citizens.
Edwin S. Rubenstein is President of ESR Research Economic Consultants in Indianapolis.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.