Hispanics continue shouldering aside US born – Peter Brimelow

Twice in the past few weeks, at summer gatherings here in the Connecticut Berkshires, I have heard apolitical neighbors sadly reporting that their high-school and college-age children have been unable to find seasonal work. Peter Gadiel precisely identified this as an illegal immigrant effect here recently – it has been a concern of Joe Guzzardi’s for some time.

So receiving Ed Rubenstein’s latest comment on the employment data was poignant:

Hispanics garnered 45,000, or 28 percent, of the 163,000 jobs created in June - this according to the Household Survey. In percentage terms their monthly job growth was more than twice that of non-Hispanics - 0.24 percent versus 0.10 percent… Since the start of the Bush Administration in January 2001 Hispanic employment has risen by 2.51 million, or by 15.6 percent, while non-Hispanics gained 1.36 million positions, a 1.1 percent increase. The ratio of Hispanic to non-Hispanic employment indexes, which we call VDAWDI, rose to a record 114.3 in June from 114.1 in May.

Ed supplies a chart.

Slowly, recognition of the impact of immigration on the employment data, first publicized by Ed Rubenstein on VDARE.com, is starting to appear in conventional channels. U.S. jobless rate dips to 9/11 levels Contra Costa Times -By George Avalos July 9 2005
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The government’s closely scrutinized payroll survey in June showed far less job growth than the less-watched household survey — a trend that’s been under way for about two years… Why does this job chasm persist? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is failing to properly gauge jobs being obtained by illegal immigrants and self-employed individuals, or being created through small companies and startups

Mark Vitner, senior economist, Wachovia Securities is quoted saying:

“We are not counting jobs held by undocumented workers nearly as well as we did in the 1990s …In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, many immigrants went underground following roundups of illegal immigrants at airports and other sensitive places. A lot of work has gone underground. In a lot of cases, these immigrants have formed their own companies…”

(Many businesses started by immigrants are employment brokerages or “Gangmasters” of course. And the way they grab so much of the employment pie is by undercutting wages.)

Vitner is probably inaccurate as to the history of this development – the Bush Administration’s abandonment of employer enforcement has probably been far more influential. But he is right about the economic effect, and is a brave man for mentioning it. Congratulate him.