State Unemployment Rates for Immigrants

Joblessness among the foreign-born suggests the need for curbs on further admissions

By Steven A. Camarota on May 22, 2020

The state unemployment numbers released today paint a bleak picture. It just makes no sense in this environment to continue to give out so many work permits to foreign workers.

Analysis of the new state-level employment data by the Center for Immigration Studies shows that, in most of the top immigrant-receiving states, unemployment is higher for the foreign-born than for the native-born. The primary reason for this is that immigrants are more likely to work in sectors of the economy that have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 shutdown, such as hospitality and retail. (The analysis is here; state-level numbers on unemployment and labor force participation are in Tables 6 through 9.)

Among the findings:

  • Among the top 16 immigration states, immigrants fared the worst relative to natives in:
    • Massachusetts — immigrant unemployment, 28 percent; native unemployment, 14 percent.
    • Nevada — immigrant unemployment, 40 percent; native unemployment, 27 percent.
    • Hawaii — immigrant unemployment, 31 percent; native unemployment, 20 percent.
    • Georgia — immigrant unemployment, 18 percent; native unemployment, 12 percent.
    • New York — immigrant unemployment, 20 percent; native unemployment, 15 percent.
    • New Jersey — immigrant unemployment, 20 percent; native unemployment, 15 percent.
    • Washington — immigrant unemployment, 20 percent; native unemployment, 16 percent.
    • Virginia — immigrant unemployment, 14 percent; native unemployment, 10 percent.
    • Texas — immigrant unemployment, 15 percent; native unemployment, 12 percent.
  • In four others — California, New Mexico, Florida, and Maryland — immigrants and natives have roughly similar unemployment rates.
  • Rounding out the top 16 immigrant states were Illinois, North Carolina, and Arizona, where immigrants have a somewhat lower level of unemployment:
    • Illinois — immigrant unemployment, 14 percent; native unemployment, 18 percent.
    • North Carolina — immigrant unemployment, 10 percent; native unemployment, 13 percent.
    • Arizona — immigrant unemployment, 11percent; native unemployment, 14 percent.

Figures are calculated from the public use Current Population Survey and are seasonally unadjusted. Results from public use data can differ slightly from published Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures. See discussion in methods of report for more detail.