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Immigrant workers have been one of the groups most affected by unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic, however, now it seems that they are recovering according to a study by Pew Research Center .
According to analysis From data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and monthly Current Population Survey files, immigrants were more affected than native-born workers. the country at the beginning of the pandemic, but since then it seems that this difference has been reduced.
In 2020 there was 27 .3 million foreign-born workers in the United States, representing the 17% of the economically active population.
With the pandemic these workers entered the same conditions as workers who were born in the United States, but saw how their unemployment rate rose faster with the onset of the COVID-caused economic recession – 17 .
The study mentions that one year later, with the beginning of the economic recovery, unemployment among immigrants is almost equal to that of workers born in the United States . However, for both groups, the unemployment rate is still higher than the pre-pandemic level .
During the start of the coronavirus pandemic The unemployment rate for immigrants soared more than that of US-born workers when it reached the 15. 3% compared to 12. 4% of workers born in the country .
The report found that unemployment among both groups decreased as the economy began to recover but more among immigrant workers who registered an unemployment rate of 5.9% compared to 5.8% of workers born in the country. Unemployment among Hispanic workers increased from 5% to 16. 2% during the second quarter of 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic started.
In the United States, Hispanic and Asian immigrants represent almost three out of every four foreign-born workers .
However, the economic recovery has opened a larger gap in the unemployment rate in favor of Hispanic and Asian immigrants who appear to be recovering.
Women: the most affected in p andemia
The The worst hit was suffered by immigrant working women who before the pandemic registered an unemployment rate of 4.8% and who after the pandemic shot up to 17. 3% during the second quarter of 2020. Only in December of 2020
- the economy lost 140, 000 jobs all held by women .
The same rate for immigrant women in the second quarter of 2021 was 6.5% versus the rate faced by women born in the United States of 5.4%.
Some of the sectors have recovered and have allowed the unemployment rate to decrease thanks to the strengthening of the entertainment, services and hotel sectors.
But the average salary of immigrant workers has fallen by 4.9% since the second quarter of 2020 until the second quarter of 2021 but e The average salary has recovered since 2019.
So far the impact of worker earnings cannot be compared until we see the employment rate at pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
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