By CLAUDIA AORAHA, SENIOR REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Staggering figures have revealed that over 1.2million US-born workers lost their jobs last month while the foreign-born workforce increased by nearly 700,000 – as migrants continue to flood across the border under the Biden administration.
Data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that between July and August, there was a staggering decrease of 1.223million native-born people in the workforce – which is a low not beaten since the jobs crash when Covid hit in April 2020.
In stark contrast almost 688,000 jobs were secured by foreign-born workers, underlining the difference in Joe Biden‘s pro-migration policies versus Donald Trump‘s tough border stance.
The data published on Friday shows that the numbers of US-born workers in employment had previously been steadily increasing since January – when the figure sat at 130million. This jumped to 131.1million in April, before peaking in July with 132.25million. Employment in this category was back down to 131.03millon in August.
By comparison, the number of foreign-born workers has been increasing since the beginning of the year. In January 2023, there were 28.69million non-natives working in the States, rising to 29.96million in April, and 30.396million in August.
The most dramatic drop in native-born employment numbers was, perhaps unsurprisingly, between March and April of 2020, in the first month of the coronavirus pandemic.
Employment went from 128million to 111million in the space of four weeks – equating to 17.324million jobs being lost.
July to August of 2023 has been the biggest drop since.
While there can often be a lull in employment during the summer months, as well as over the winter period from December to January, this year’s drop is more significant that previous periods.
In 2021 between July and August, there was an employment drop of 601,000 native-born people in the US.
Similarly in the same months in 2022, there were 324,000 less workers in jobs.
Even before the pandemic, in data from July and August 2019, there were 700,000 less native-born people in the US workforce.
Therefore, this year’s 1.223million negative difference seems more concerning – negatively bucking the trend of previous vacation lulls.
Looking at the same summer jumps for foreign workers, the opposite trend seems to be true. Employment has been expanding, rather than contracting.
Between the summer months in the first year of the pandemic, employment of foreign-born workers boomed – increasing by 473,000.
Between July and August 2021, the number of foreign-born workers increased by 237,000, and in 2022, although there was no increase, the dip was marginal – at just 29,000.
The increase in foreign-born people working in the US this summer, 668,000, is the highest July-to-August jump in the last 10 years. The only July-to-August period that has come close was during the height of the pandemic in 2020 – 605,000.
While there can often be a lull in employment during the summer months, as well as over the winter period from December to January, this year’s drop is more significant that previous periods (stock image)
What the figures suggest is there has been nearly a net-zero increase in native-born jobs created since the Covid economic crash. The job market is only just about reaching the highs seen in October 2019, where employment was 131.72million.
Trends also seem to show that under Donald Trump, there were less foreign-born people working in the US month-on-month, the Bureau’s data shows.
Comparing figures from the first three years of each of their tenures, the Republican president’s foreign-born workforce expanded by 752,000 between August 2017 to 2019.
By contrast, Democrat Biden’s figure from August 2021 to 2023 was 3.943million.
During Trump’s presidency, between July and August of 2017, foreign-born employment rose by just 82,000.
The 668,000 foreign workforce figure in 2023 is a staggering eight times more – set on the backdrop of the Biden administration’s control of the movement across the US-Mexico border since the end of pandemic-era Title 42 in May.
Between July and August of 2018, foreign-born employment increased by 168,000, and 2019’s corresponding figure was 132,000.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, foreign-born people are those residing in the United States who were not US citizens at birth, and do not have parents who are U.S. citizens.
Though hiring this August was strong by historical standards, with 187,000 jobs added, employment gains over the last three months have averaged just 150,000, the lowest reading since the October to December period in 2019.
The 668,000 foreign workforce figure in 2023 is a staggering eight times more – set on the backdrop of the Biden administration’s control of the movement across the US-Mexico border since the end of pandemic-era Title 42 in May (stock image)
The rates at which workers are quitting as well as the pace of hiring also have slipped to near or below pre-pandemic levels, while one statistic closely watched by the Fed – the number of job openings for every unemployed person – tumbled in July to 1.51, the lowest since September 2021.
The downshift marks ‘a clear cooling of the labor market,’ former Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said. ‘If it continues we are likely at the peak of the interest rate cycle.’
The Fed has raised its benchmark overnight interest rate rapidly since March of 2022, but is expected at its September 20 meeting to hold it steady in the current 5.25%-5.50% range.
New economic projections issued at the end of that gathering will show if policymakers continue to expect an additional rate increase this year, but after the latest jobs data investors increased their bets against such a prospect.
Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su said the slower pace of job growth showed the economy was shifting from the ‘breakneck’ recovery from pandemic-era job losses to ‘continued stable, steady growth.’
She said: ‘This is really what you want to see if you are looking for a ‘soft landing.”
Her reference was to the hope among Fed policymakers that they can lower still-elevated inflation to the central bank’s 2 percent target without forcing the economy into recession or causing high rates of joblessness.
Although the unemployment rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.8 percent in August, it remained well below the rates of 5 percent and higher that have been normal in the U.S. since World War Two.
Moreover, it was driven by a jump of more than 700,000 in the number of available workers – a constructive dynamic that can allow employment to expand without inflationary pressure on wages.
Fed officials have been hoping to see the labor market cool, torn between the fact that rising wages and a good job market improve the economic fortunes of workers and families, and concern that continued strong hiring conditions could keep inflation high.
At least so far, the Fed is registering gains there as well, with data since the July meeting showing the pace of price increases slowing and the breadth of inflation narrowing.