'Immigrants not 'stealing' American jobs'

As debate over immigration policy generates heat in the United States, there seems to be no evidence that foreign-born workers have a negative effect on employment of natives, a new study has said.

Although one out of every six workers in Texas is foreign-born, that has not hurt job prospects for American-born workers, a Pew Hispanic Center Study has said. Despite the fact that America's immigrant population is growing rapidly, it has had no negative effects on the employment of native-born workers, it added.

An analysis of the relationship between growth in the foreign-born population and the employment outcomes of native-born workers revealed wide variations across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. No consistent pattern emerged to show that native-born workers suffered or benefited from increased numbers of foreign-born workers.

"There is no clear relationship between trends in immigration and employment outcomes for native workers," Rakesh Kochhar, study author and associate director for research at the Pew center, said, adding: "Others can draw the connection, but we find no relationship."

Kochhar looked at census data from 1990, 2000 and 2004 to chart the rise in immigrant population in the states, and the employment of American-born workers in 2000 and 2004. In 2000, nearly 25 per cent of native-born workers lived in states where rapid growth in the foreign-born population between 1990 and 2000

was associated with favorable outcomes for the native born.

Meanwhile, only 15 per cent of native-born workers resided in states where rapid growth in the foreign-born population was associated with negative outcomes for the native born. The remaining 60 per cent of native-born workers lived in states where the growth in the foreign-born population was below average, but those native workers did not consistently experience favorable employment outcomes.

The same results emerged from the analysis of data for 2000 to 2004. When ranked by the growth in the foreign-born population between 1990 and 2000, the top 10 states showed significant variation in employment outcomes for native-born workers in 2000.

Native workers in five states had employment outcomes that were better than average and native workers in the other five states had employment outcomes that were worse than average. The pattern also held for the 2000 to 2004 time period. The size of the foreign-born workforce is also unrelated to the employment prospects for native-born workers.

The relative youth and low levels of education among foreign workers also appear to have no bearing on the employment outcomes of native-born workers of similar schooling and age.