New Report: Immigrants and the Economy

Posted by on January 04, 2010

Keystone Center reports describes economic impact of immigrants

The Keystone Research Center, in partnership with the Fiscal Policy Institute, has released a report that examines the economic contributions of immigrants in the 25 largest metropolitan areas of the United States, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The report, Immigrants and the Economy, found that immigrants are contributing to the economy in very close proportion to their share of the population. In the 25 largest metropolitan areas combined – comprising more than half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and two thirds of all immigrants – foreign-born workers are responsible for 20% of economic output and make up 20% of the population.

http://www.keystoneresearch.org/sites/keystoneresearch.org/files/ImmigrantsIn25MetroAreas_20091130.pdf

In metropolitan Philadelphia, immigrants represent 9% of population and 10% of GDP, while in metropolitan Pittsburgh, they represent 3% of population and 4% of GDP.  In both regions,  larger-than-average shares of the immigrant population work in managerial and professional occupations, a high- and middle-wage occupational category that includes executives, doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, professors, social workers, and artists.

For more about the report, click here.

http://www.keystoneresearch.org/media-center/press-releases/new-report-shows-robust-immigrant-contribution-gdp