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The Bridge City and A Rainbow Dream

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 11:38

Niagara Falls. 

"The Canadian side is better, more developed. They have better hotels."

"Sorry, but we need a visa to enter Canada."

"I forgot. The kids are okay, they are Americans. You and I need visas"

Will the economic recovery increase demand for immigrants in the labor market?

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 16:43

A recent study by PEW Hispanic Center states that immigrants are finding jobs faster during 2010.  According to the report “immigrants in the U.S. have gained 656,000 jobs since the Great Recession ended in June 2009. By comparison, U.S.-born workers lost 1.2 million jobs. The unemployment rate for immigrants fell over the same period to 8.7 percent from 9.3 percent. For American-born workers, the jobless rate rose to 9.7 percent from 9.2 percent.”

Two other labor indicators show a recovery for immigrants workers in the US labor market: 1) an increase in the labor force participation from 68% in the second quarter of 2009 to 68.2% in the second quarter in 2010; 2) an increase in the employment rate from 61.7% to 62.3% during the same period. The study also points out at the greater mobility of immigrants in finding jobs in different states. In a previous podcast we underscored the mobility of hispanic immigrants due to their diaspora connections (see previous post).

US banks’ actions to close small money transfer companies’ accounts may reduce legitimate options for sending money home

Submitted by Jacqueline Irving on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 19:11

US-based migrants may find it much harder to opt for formal channels in sending money to needy family members overseas because of an increasing tendency on the part of a number of US banks to close down the accounts held by small, niche money transfer companies—including many that are in full compliance with licensing, auditing, customer reporting and other regulatory requirements of US state and national authorities.