Posted on 02/20/2005 10:56:58 AM PST by occutegirl
The recovery from the recession of 2001 is often described as "jobless." But this is not entirely correct. My analysis of Census Bureau data shows that between March 2000 and 2004, the number of adults working in United States actually increased.
What's interesting, however, is that all the net growth in jobs went to immigrant workers. In fact, while the number of unemployed adult native-born workers increased by 2.3 million over this time, the number of employed immigrants rose by 2.3 million.
Significantly, about half the growth in immigrant employment was from illegal immigration. --------------- Our analysis also shows little evidence that immigrants only take jobs Americans don't want. It is true that immigration has its biggest impact at the bottom end of the labor market in relatively low-paying occupations done by less-educated workers.
Nonetheless such occupations still employ tens of millions of native-born workers
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
ping
Significantly, about half the growth in immigrant employment was from illegal immigration.
I'm surprised the Red Star would report this.
Guess their subscriptions are desperately low.
Local native born Americans could get off their posteriors and apply for these jobs, something that is not happening (where I live, at least). In fact, they finally closed down a bricklayer apprentice program because nobody applied - despite the fact that a bricklayer can make way more than minimum wage, and nothing was required except being a citizen, attending the program and learning how to lay brick
Now we have a bunch of low-lifes hanging around complaining that Mexicans are taking "their jobs." Give me a break. Maybe they should stop cruising the projects taking their "baby mama's" welfare check or quit brewing meth out in the swamps, and actually compete with the immigrants. Life in the US is competitive, and they're not in the game.
Correctamundo! /Fonzi
Only about 5 percent of lawyers and 6 percent of journalists are immigrants, compared with one-fourth of construction laborers and one-third of janitors. When more educated and affluent people say, "Immigrants only take jobs Americans don't want," what they really mean is that immigrants only take jobs they don't want.
When businesses say, "Immigrants only take jobs Americans don't want," what they really mean is that given what they would like to pay, and how they would like to treat their workers, they cannot find enough Americans. Therefore, employers want the government to continually increase the supply of labor by nonenforcement of immigration laws and keeping legal immigration levels as high as possible. This in turn holds down wages and benefits, especially at the bottom end of the labor market, as well as allowing them to put off investment that would increase productivity.
The idea that America is desperately short of less-skilled workers is absurd on its face. There are 70 million native-born Americans and legal immigrants already here between the ages of 18 and 64 who have only a high school education. This is an enormous pool of labor that if properly paid and treated could satisfy all the labor demands of American employers.
This is a good article I think might interest you.
How do they know this? If true this wouldn't suprise me, but what employer in their right mind would disclose that they have illegal aliens on the payroll? This reporter's "research" seems suspect.
Local native born Americans could get off their posteriors and apply for these jobs, something that is not happening (where I live, at least). In fact, they finally closed down a bricklayer apprentice program because nobody applied - despite the fact that a bricklayer can make way more than minimum wage, and nothing was required except being a citizen, attending the program and learning how to lay brick
I understand what you are saying but most of these guys that won't take the apprentice program know what they are saying also. You will take the program and work for us at about half of what the job is worth. Get in line with the illegals and plan on having a couple of roomates so you can make ends meet. Welcome to the third world buddy!!!
I wonder if even more Americans would want this job if they, like illegals could work them without paying income taxes!
Right on, a apprentice should be worth 15 an hour to start, I was making nearly 8 an hour doing this job in '74. My rent was 135 for a nice place with pool, workout room and recreation area. All I paid was power and phone. Now they pay about 10 an hour which means you work two weeks to pay the rent, one week to eat and pay taxes, and the other to buy gas and pay utilities. Then of course the govt gives you money back at the end of the year if you have kids, then they say how wonderful the economy is.
LOL...sadly
But, the constant supply of illegal sub-minimum wage workers breaking into our country keeps market rates down. Back in the late '90s, fast food restaurants were advertising $10.00/hour for unskilled labor. We'll never get that high again as long as the market keeps supplying criminals at $5.00/hour. The fact that black leaders do not recognize this is, in itself criminal and proves that they are simply the overseers or black field hands and work for the labor union masters.
Once slave labor disappears, the wages paid to entry level blacks will rise and suck them into the workforce.
If genuine labor shortages exist, then laws should be modified to address as they occur and handled in a process that matches demand legally; the fact that it continues unaddressed for so long indicates that their is no desire to find legal remedy because it would mean that employers would have to treat these workers and pay these workers like American citizens which is what they are trying so hard to do. Once this group of illegals are legalized, employers will have no need for them and start hiring the illegal ones again.
I used to be a brick layer, brick layers were paid anywhere from $10 to $15/hr in drum roll 1975.
I know there's a labor pool for unskilled jobs, but the problem is that a lot of it doesn't want to work. This is even true in the case of jobs that are not low-paid, or that are low-paid at entry (as are most jobs) but then rise to a very respectable wage fairly quickly. Heck, most teachers earn less than a skilled bricklayer; there's such a shortage of bricklayers that now a lot of architects and landscape architects are redesigning their projects here to eliminate brick because it's impossible to get it done.
As far as really unskilled labor jobs go, I heard one loser ex-con here, quitting after two days on a roofing job, say the work was too hard and it was a job only for Mexicans. It was $10.00 an hour, btw, which is not a high wage, but certainly decent for an unskilled laborer. Of course, the Mexicans do take these jobs, stay on them for six months or so until the project is finished, and then head home with thousands of dollars in their pocket.
A family member spent ages trying to fill a truck driver position at a non-profit for which she works because none of the candidates had driver's licenses (even though there's absolutely nothing preventing them from reading the book or going to the driver's ed classes and getting a license). One of them got infuriated when he was requested to provide his license for insurance purposes and even threatened her. Of course, it turned out he didn't have one and had never had one. Why not? He couldn't even do that little bit?
I think it's a double-sided problem. We have a lot of people in the US who have been brought up in the welfare culture and the society of irresponsibility and are incapable of getting off their backsides. We also have employers who are benefitting by being able to shave dollars off of benefits, etc. because they know that the Mexicans are never going to be around long enough to collect them and will not complain about anything they do. Also, it benefits the governmment, because many illegals have fake SS numbers into which money is theoretically paid - nobody ever seems to match up whether this is a valid number, for some reason - but of course it is never paid out in benefits.
I am in favor of a guest worker program (with significant restrictions, such as a requirement that all "guests" learn English, that Mexico agree to repatriate them if they commit crimes, etc.) because I think it would level the playing field. If these workers have the ability to leave whenever they want and complain about unjust treatment, etc., then they will be like US workers, so the employers won't have that advantage any more. On the other hand, I still don't know what's going to make productive workers out of the native-born folks who spend all day standing around parking lots drinking beer or waiting for their grandmother to get her Social Security payment so she can turn it over to them. So maybe the situation wouldn't change that much anyway. Sigh. Sorry to sound so cynical. Just based on observation.
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