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May 9, 2022

Immigration’s role in the tight U.S. labor market

A sharp decline in immigration to the U.S. could be contributing to the country’s labor shortage. According to research from economists at the University of California, Davis, the country had 2 million fewer working-age immigrants at the end of 2021 than it would have had if pre-pandemic immigration trends had continued. We spoke to Marketplace senior economics contributor Chris Farrell about the consequences of the decline in immigration. Plus, we talk to Julia Coronado, founder of MacroPolicy Perspectives, about what’s driving the latest market volatility. And, how far does the U.S. economy have to go before it makes up all of the jobs that were lost to the pandemic?

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In this file photo, immigrants await their turn for green card and citizenship interviews at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Queens office on May 30, 2013 in the Long Island City neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
In this file photo, immigrants await their turn for green card and citizenship interviews at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Queens office on May 30, 2013 in the Long Island City neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
John Moore/Getty Images

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The Team

Immigration’s role in the tight U.S. labor market