Unemployment rate down, but fewer Americans are working as high immigration continues
November unemployment numbers were released earlier today, and while much of the focus is on the fact that the overall rate dropped 0.2 points from 7.9% to 7.7%, a few media outlets are focusing on why the rate dropped - 542,000 Americans gave up their job search and are no longer being counted in the overall statistic. And while the overall size of the population grew by nearly 200,000 people, the number of people working or looking for work has dropped precipitously.
So, who's dropping out of the workforce?
- Black Americans make up 12.3% of the civilian workforce, but from October to November, 340,000 Black Americans dropped out of the workforce, accounting for 62.7% of the total number of individuals who left the workforce.
- Hispanic Americans make up 15.2% of the civilian workforce, but from October to November, 132,000 Hispanics dropped out of the workforce, accounting for 24.3% of total. While data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the unemployment rate going down, the same data also show that some of the most vulnerable Americans are still being hurt by the jobs depression.
And yet, we continue to open the newspaper or turn on the news every day and hear media pundits and politicians talk about the need for an amnesty to give work permits to the 11-18 million illegal aliens along with increased levels of legal immigration.
Just this week, former President George W. Bush, who tried desperately to pass an amnesty and increase legal immigration, once again called for "comprehensive immigration reform." And New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hosted a conference with leaders from the high-tech industry saying that without more immigration, America is committing "national suicide."
CHRIS CHMIELENSKI is the Director of Content & Activism for NumbersUSA