On the eve of the 2020 election Donald Trump, in a post on the platform then known as Twitter, told voters that "This election is a choice between a TRUMP RECOVERY or a BIDEN DEPRESSION."
Not quite. Since President Joe Biden took office, the United States has gained 15.7 million jobs.
Trump, however, has been dismissing the good news on employment, claiming that all the job gains are going to illegal immigrants.
In a recent column I addressed his further claim that immigration has had a devastating effect on Black workers. (It hasn't.)
First, while we have monthly estimates for employment that distinguish between native-born and foreign-born workers (although they don't separate out those lacking legal status), these numbers aren't adjusted for seasonal variation.
Rather than try to roll my own seasonal adjustment, I'll just use 12-month averages, which are good enough for current purposes.
Second, many experts believe that the standard numbers, based on the Current Population Survey, underestimate the recent surge in immigration. I'll note where this makes a difference, but it doesn't change the overall picture.
Finally, when you're looking at recent job growth, it matters what you choose as your starting point.
Biden inherited an economy still depressed by the effects of COVID-19, and some of the job growth on his watch reflected a recovery from that depressed state. It arguably makes more sense to compare the current economy with the economy on the eve of COVID.
I'll do it both ways, looking at both job growth since 2020 and job growth from the prepandemic year 2019.
Since 2020, there have been large increases in employment of both native- and foreign-born workers, but much of that reflected recovery from the pandemic slump.
Compared with the prepandemic economy, job gains have been much smaller, especially for the native-born. So immigrants have accounted for most job growth -- perhaps more than the chart says, if immigration has been understated -- although not all of it.
Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/immigration-isnt-taking-away-jobs-its-helping-the-united-states/articleshow/111980154.cms
