Immigrants Represent a Growing Share of the U.S. Workforce
Immigrants represent a steadily growing share of the U.S. workforce, a trend that could be affected by efforts to overhaul immigration policy in the U.S., according to Bloomberg BNA. An annual report released May 18 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. increased to nearly 27 million in 2016—up about 700,000 from the previous year and representing 16.9 percent of the U.S. labor force. That is the highest proportion in records going back to 1996, when immigrants accounted for just 10.8 percent of the workforce. The report defines foreign-born workers as individuals who reside in the U.S. but were born outside the country to parents who were not U.S. citizens. It doesn't distinguish between legally admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents and undocumented immigrants. The share of immigrants in the U.S. workforce has grown steadily during the past six years after a slight dip during the last recession when foreign-born...