Which comes first: immigrants or jobs?
December 10, 2009The common story in the press and in politics about immigrant laborers in the United States is that they take jobs from American workers, and depress wages and growth. The opposite may be true. A study, based mostly in New York, says Philly’s economic troubles are related to its relative lack of immigrants.
The study, which focused on the five largest metropolitan areas on the East Coast (New York, Philly, Washington, Atlanta and Miami), pointed out that cities with big economic growth tend to have large numbers of immigrants.
Exactly how much the two affect each other isn’t clear. Places with economic growth will generally attract immigrants, because there are jobs. What isn’t clear is whether immigrants, by their contribution to the labor market, make the economy stronger. A Brookings Institute study found in 2008 that “nearly 75 percent of the region’s labor-force growth since 2000 could be attributed to immigrants,” so there is at least some evidence that immigrants actually increase a city’s economic benefit.
Philly is included in the study (linked to above), and it shows what most Philly workers already know: the economy isn’t so good here. But it also shows that growth in immigrants here is lower than most cities.
From the study: “a statistical analysis of the country’s largest 25 metropolitan areas supports the conclusion that economic growth and growth in the immigrant workforce go hand in hand.”
When you add in the Brookings Institute study, Philly’s problems may be partly due to the fact that there aren’t many immigrants here. This isn’t the easiest realization to come to, but it might be the most accurate.
