2020 Foreign-born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics — 2021-05-18

The unemployment rate for foreign-born persons in the United States was 9.2 percent in 2020, up sharply from 3.1 percent in 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless rate of native-born persons also increased sharply; it was 7.8 percent in 2020, up from 3.8 percent in 2019. The marked increases in these measures reflect the effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 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. The foreign born include legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants.