So many articles came out lately noting that this week’s official U.S. jobs report (for November) showed that the unemployment …Continue reading →
So many articles came out lately noting that this week’s official U.S. jobs report (for November) showed that the unemployment rate hit 4.6 percent – a four-year high. (See, e.g., here, here, here, and here – for starters.) And so few reporting a key development underlying those figures.
Specifically, the overall jobless rate increase from 4.4 percent in September (October data is missing because of the federal government shutdown) was driven entirely by a rise in the unemployment number for foreign-born workers – including of course illegal aliens but also legal foreign-born residents. Joblessness among native-born workers actually declined.
Here are the details:
Between September and November, the foreign-born unemployment rate rose from 4.1 percent to 4.4 percent. That’s lower than its latest peak of 4.7 percent in February. But during that period, the rate for native-born workers stayed at 4.3 percent. And that’s down from the most recent peak of 4.7 percent, hit in July. So unemployment for native-born workers has fallen slightly faster from its latest high than unemployment for native-born workers.
Moreover, native-born workers have fared better job-wise during Trump 2.0 (whose first full month in office was February) than during the comparable months of the Open Borders-friendly Biden administration’s final year in office in 2024.
Between February and November, 2024, unemployment fell for both foreign-born and native-born workers. But the decline was faster for the former (from 4.7 percent to 4.4 percent) than for the latter (from four percent to 3.9 percent).
In 2025, these numbers have moved in opposite directions. From February, 2025 through November, the foreign-born unemployment rate increased from 4.7 percent to 5.1 percent. But for native-born workers, it’s decreased from 4.4 percent to 4.3 percent.
Because these official figures don’t distinguish between illegal aliens and legal foreign immigrants, it’s not possible to know exactly how much of the worse relative jobs picture for foreign-born workers has stemmed from the president’s crackdown on illegal migration.
But since even such a pro-immigration organization like the American Immigration Council has estimated that, according to its latest available data, the share of illegal aliens in the United States who are of working age (89.4 percent) is a good deal higher than the share of total immigrants (77.1 percent), it’s reasonable to assume that the Trump immigration policies can take a decent amount of credit.
So if you think, as you should, that illegal aliens shouldn’t be competing for jobs and opportunity with folks lawfully living in the United States, you should be applauding the Trump measures for moving the country closer to that goal.
