Immigration, Race, and Labor Market Structures in American Metropolitan Areas

Abstract

In understanding the linkage between the spatial concentration of immigrant populations and local labor markets, this study pay particular attention to the relationships between the size and compositions of immigrants in urban areas and three types of local employment conditions: employment distributions across all local industrial sectors; overall employment rate; and local unemployment rate. Using a sample of the 312 PMSAs/MSAs, the volume of local immigrants reveals significant associations with employment patterns of some local industries (construction, wholesale services, education, and professional). First, this research finds that employment in the industrial sectors of agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, and wholesale services rises to the extent that proportion of recent immigrants increases. Second, the volume of immigrant population shows a negative association with the overall employment rate. Third, this study also indicates that local unemployment rates rise to the degree that immigrant population relative to local natives grows. As a whole, however, this study suggests that the size and compositions of local minority populations will have little to do with local employment conditions.