Fed's Powell says immigration surge boosted unemployment rate

Published On Sep 19, 2024, 3:59 PM

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has stated that a surge in immigration has contributed to the recent increase in the unemployment rate in the U.S. This is due to a significant influx of new workers entering the labor market, while job creation has not kept pace, averaging just over 100,000 jobs per month recently. As a result, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July before slightly declining to 4.2% in August. Meanwhile, there has been a notable decline in employment among native-born workers, with over 1.3 million jobs lost, compared to a gain of over 1.2 million jobs for foreign-born workers during the same period.