Unemployment and foreign-born workers, 2008

March 27, 2009

The unemployment rate for the foreign born was 5.8 percent in 2008, up from 4.3 percent in 2007. The jobless rate of the native born also increased to 5.8 percent in 2008; it was 4.7 percent in the prior year.

[Chart data—TXT]

The over-the-year increase in the unemployment rate of foreign-born workers reflected increases in the rates for both men and women. The unemployment rate for foreign-born men rose from 4.1 to 5.7 percent, and the rate for foreign-born women was up from 4.6 to 6.0 percent.

Among the native born, the rate for men rose from 4.9 to 6.2 percent, while the rate for women was up from 4.5 to 5.3 percent in 2008.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see "Foreign-Born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics in 2008" (PDF) (HTML), news release USDL 09-0303.