Economic Report of the President

TABLE 4-1.— Foreign-Born Share of Employment Growth by Occupational Category,1996 to 2002Occupational categoryEmployment growth(thousands)TotalForeignbornForeignbornaspercentof totalOccupation examplesTotal ................................................................ 9,667 5,575 57.7 (1)Executive, administrative, and managerial .... 2,801 504 18.0 Managers, administratorsProfessional specialty ..................................... 3,158 852 27.0 Doctors, scientists, teachersTechnicians and related support .................... 585 181 30.9 Health and science techniciansSales................................................................ 837 480 57.3 Salespeople, cashiersAdministrative support, including clerical...... -177 296 (1) Clerks, secretaries, bookkeepersService............................................................. 2,032 1,253 61.7 Janitors, kitchen workers, groundsworkersPrecision production, craft, and repair........... 1,044 900 86.2 Mechanics, construction workersOperators, fabricators, and laborers............... -518 930 (1) Machine operators, bus and truckdriversFarming, forestry, and fishing ........................ -97 178 (1) Farmers, farm workers1Not applicable.Note: Since data in this table end with 2002, total growth here is less than the 11 million increase mentioned inthe text, which is measured from 1996 to 2003. Data relate to persons aged 16 and over.Source: Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics).Immigrants and Regional GrowthImmigrants are not spread evenly across the United States but instead areconcentrated within certain states and cities. In 2000, 59 percent of theforeign-born lived in just four states: California, New York, Texas, and Florida,compared with only 29 percent of natives. Fully 21 percent of the immigrantpopulation lived in the metropolitan areas of New York and Los Angeles alone,compared with 5 percent of the native-born. The foreign-born are concentratedin certain areas, not only because of the economic opportunities in theseregions, but also because new immigrants often prefer settling in cities inwhich their fellow countrymen already reside. This enables new immigrants tolive among people who share their language and culture, as well as to use ethnicnetworks to find jobs and learn about life in the United States.While recent immigrants continue to settle disproportionately in cities andstates with large immigrant populations, both recent and earlier waves ofimmigrants have increasingly pursued economic opportunities in areas wherefew immigrants had lived previously. From 1996 to 2003, some of the fastestjob growth among the foreign-born took place in regions of the country wherefew immigrants had worked at the beginning of the period (Chart 4-1). In theEast North Central region (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin),for example, immigrants accounted for 84 percent of employment growthbetween 1996 and 2003, even though the foreign-born were only 5 percent ofworkers in this region in 1996, compared to 11 percent nationwide. Even inthe East South Central states (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee),immigrants were only 2 percent of workers in 1996 but accounted for47 percent of job growth during this period.Chapter 4 | 95