2022 Foreign-born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics — 2023-05-18

The unemployment rate for foreign-born persons in the United States was 3.4 percent in 2022, down from 5.6 percent in 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless rate of native-born persons declined to 3.7 percent in 2022 from 5.3 percent in 2021. Both measures are down considerably from their highs in 2020. However, the jobless rate for the foreign born remains above its level of 3.1 percent prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019, while the rate for the native born is little changed from its pre-pandemic level of 3.8 percent. 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.