While the Obama Administration considers whether or not it will grant amnesty and work permits to a significant portion of the country's illegal-alien population, the employment situation for American workers worsened last month. The unemployment rate dropped slightly in August, but mostly because of an increased number of Americans who left the labor force. The labor participation rate dropped to its lowest since the 1970s after 268,000 Americans gave up on their job search.
In addition, the number of new jobs created by employers also hit a yearly low with employers adding 142,000 new jobs in August down from more than 200,000 in each previous month this year and well below the 225,000 new jobs that were projected by economists.
Last week, Pres. Obama confirmed his desire to move forward with an executive action that would amnesty millions of illegal aliens and would provide them with work permits, but the President didn't indicate when the action may go into effect. His announcement was followed with concerns within his own party about the impact of an executive amnesty on November's mid-term elections.
Should the Obama Administration move forward with its executive action, an expected 5-6 million illegal aliens could receive work permits and compete with the more than 18 million Americans who want a full-time job but can't find one.
For more information, see BLS.gov.
