2018 Foreign-born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics — 2019-05-16

The unemployment rate for foreign-born persons in the United States was 3.5 percent in 2018, down from 4.1 percent in 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless rate of native-born persons was 4.0 percent in 2018, down from 4.4 percent in 2017. 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. The survey does not separately identify persons in these categories, however. For further information about the survey, see the Technical Note in this news release.