White House says jobs surging among U.S.-born. Here’s what economists say.

A quirk in survey calculations is muddying the data on just how immigration policies are upending the labor market.

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A now hiring sign displayed at a retail store in Vernon Hills, Illinois, on Aug. 7. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

By Abha Bhattarai

The Trump administration has railed against government data, casting doubt on monthly jobs figures and calling for an overhaul of GDP calculations. But there’s one number White House officials are happy to tout: 2 million new jobs this year for workers born in the United States, referred to as “native-born” among statisticians.

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Millions Of American Workers Just Appeared. Why That Might Be A Mirage

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There are suddenly many more native-born U.S. workers. But why?.
Heather Diehl / The Boston Globe via Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a large increase in the number of native-born U.S. workers, and a decrease in those who are foreign-born.
• White House officials pointed to the data as vindicating President Donald Trump's "America First" economic policies.
• Economists said the shift was more likely related to statistical quirks and did not represent genuine gains for U.S.-born workers.

Since President Donald Trump took office, data shows native-born Americans have gained millions of jobs, while foreign-born workers have lost them. Is the shift a vindication of the president's "America First" policies, or just a statistical mirage?

Since January, the U.S. economy has added nearly 2.5 million native-born workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (1)

At the same time, the foreign-born workforce has shrunk by 1 million. (2)

There are at least three competing explanations for why this has happened.

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