2021 Foreign-born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics — 2022-05-18

The unemployment rate for foreign-born persons in the United States was 5.6 percent in 2021, down sharply from 9.2 percent in 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless rate of native-born persons also declined sharply; it was 5.3 percent in 2021, down from 7.8 percent in 2020. Both measures are down considerably from their highs in 2020, however, they remain above their levels prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019. Data on nativity are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. The foreign born are persons who reside in the United States but who were not U.S. citizens at birth. Specifically, they were born outside the United States (or one of its outlying areas such as Puerto Rico or Guam), and neither parent was a U.S. citizen.