2006 Foreign-born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics — 2007-04-25

Foreign-born workers' share of the U.S. workforce continued to grow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In 2006, foreign-born workers made up 15.3 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force age 16 and over, up from 14.8 percent in 2005. The unemployment rate for the foreign born fell for the third year in a row, to 4.0 percent in 2006. The jobless rate of the native born also continued to decline, decreas- ing from 5.2 to 4.7 percent over the year. This news release compares the labor force characteristics of the foreign born with those of their native-born counterparts. The 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 born outside the country or one of its outlying areas to parents who were not U.S. citizens.