As the United States experiences its largest immigration wave in decades, the country is seeing a population increase and a remaking of the labor force, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Since the end of 2020, more than nine million people have migrated to the U.S., according to estimates and projections from the Congressional Budget Office and immigrants have helped increase the country's population by about 1.2% a year, the Journal said.
Without immigrants, the U.S. population would begin shrinking by 2040, the Congressional Budget Office said.
Fewer than 30% of immigrants, 2.6 million are "lawful permanent residents," green-card residents and those who came through legal channels, the Journal reported. The other 6.5 million immigrant are "other foreign nationals," mostly people crossing the southern border without authorization, according to the report.
Recent migrants are younger and more likely to be of working age than U.S.-born Americans, analysis showed. Of foreigners who arrived since 2020, 78% are between the ages of 16 and 64, compared with 60% of those born in the U.S., according to monthly U.S. census data cited by the Journal.
The Journal said about 3% of the labor force, five million people, are made up of immigrants working or looking for a job.
About 5% of working-age Americans are unable to work compared to less than 1% of post-2020 immigrants being unable to work, according to the data.
The 12 largest source countries for newcomers assigned immigration-court hearings since late 2020 are in Latin America or the Caribbean, with Mexico and Venezuela being the most common countries of origin, the Journal reported.
Migrants are most likely to settle in Florida, Texas, California, New York, and New Jersey and least likely to settle in Alaska, Vermont, and West Virginia, according to the report.
Immigrants who arrived since the start of 2020 are more than twice as likely to lack a high-school diploma as U.S.-born workers, census data showed.
The most-common occupations, according to the census data for immigrants who arrived since 2020 are: construction laborers, maids and housecleaners, and cooks.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.