ABC News’ Emily Deruy quotes Diana Carew on immigration and unemployment:
According to the Department of Labor, just half of young people between 16 and 24 had jobs in July 2012, which is typically the peak for youth employment. That’s up just slightly from 2011.
Anti-immigration organizations like the Center for Immigration Studies allege that immigrants are partially to blame.
But it’s not that simple, according to the liberal Progressive Policy Institute.
Diana Carew, an economist with the think tank, thinks immigration is actually a good thing.
Immigration brings in the highly skilled tech workers that employers simply cannot find enough of in the United States right now. Middle-skill, middle-wage jobs have really “been hollowed out,” she said, and it’s actually American workers that used to occupy those positions who have transitioned into lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs that teens typically apply for each summer.
Immigrants, on the other hand, are more likely to apply for hotel cleaning jobs or agriculture jobs that American young people simply aren’t willing to take, she said.
Read the entire article here.
