Size of U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Workforce Stable After the Great Recession
There were 8 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. working or looking for work in 2014, making up 5% of the civilian labor force.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
There were 8 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. working or looking for work in 2014, making up 5% of the civilian labor force.
The estimated total – 11.1 million in 2014 – has steadied since the end of the recession as the number declined from Mexico but grew from other countries.
Most U.S. unauthorized immigrants hold low-skilled service, construction and production jobs, but those shares have fallen since 2007. In the states, the leading industry employers are hospitality, manufacturing and construction.
The number of Americans living in multi-generational households, which spiked during the Great Recession, has risen to a record 57 million in 2012, including about one-in-four young adults ages 25-34.
The flow of immigrants from Mexico to the United States has declined sharply since mid-decade, but there is no evidence of an increase during this period in the number of Mexican-born migrants returning home from the U.S.
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