Originally Posted by dirtyp American's lost 80,000 jobs this month. And our buddies at immigration approved 65,000 h1-v visas. So the American workers goes on food stamps. While Mexico imports its work force. Cheap labor and corporate crooks will be the end of America as we know it. Some states are considering a bill that will not punish business from hiring illegals. In other news IMS is letting go 99/100 of every smuggler who has less then 500 tons. While Americans are arrested for joints. Double standard or the new standard? The Movement: Amercan's lose 80,000 jobs, Mexico Gains 65,000

Originally Posted by independent_thinker2002 I swear McCain found the one person who, if President, has the potential to make George W. Bush look good in history's eyes.

Originally Posted by jfuh Is there any indication to show that this job loss is any result of immigration?

Originally Posted by Scucca The immigration effect is concentrated on wage effects, rather than employment. Consider, for example, Reed and Danziger (2007, The Effects of Recent Immigration on Racial/Ethnic Labor Market Differentials, American Economic Review, Vol 97, pp 373-377): "The article examines the effect of immigration on the wages and employment of less educated U.S. workers in the 1990s, a period when immigrant workers became more widely distributed throughout the country. Theory predicts that wages will rise for native workers who have jobs which complement immigrant workers, and fall for those whose jobs can be supplanted. immigrants in the decade were primarily low-skilled, low-educated workers. Their impact, therefore, fell on low-skilled, low-educated workers already in the U.S. The more education a worker possessed, the less likely there would be an immigrant to supplant him. For workers with less than a high school diploma, immigration in the 1990s had a significant negative effect on wages. The effect fell most heavily on Latino and black workers, who tend to live in the large metropolitan areas which attract the most immigrants."

Originally Posted by jfuh Lower wages does not equate to job loss.

Dirtyp,

The contraction in the housing bubble and weakness in various economic sectors (i.e., construction due to the dissipating housing bubble, reduced manufacturing activity on account of general economic weakness, etc.) are leading to the job losses. Whatever one's position on the immigration debate, U.S. immigration policy is not responsible for the recent job losses.

Originally Posted by donsutherland1 Dirtyp, The contraction in the housing bubble and weakness in various economic sectors (i.e., construction due to the dissipating housing bubble, reduced manufacturing activity on account of general economic weakness, etc.) are leading to the job losses. Whatever one's position on the immigration debate, U.S. immigration policy is not responsible for the recent job losses.

It should be noted that occupations for which H-1B visas are granted are limited. If one examines the latest employment data, one finds that the fields in which the overwhelming share of job losses have been occurring are not those in which H-1B visas are being sought or granted.

Biggest Job Losses:
1. Construction: 51,000 jobs (specialty trade contractors accounted for 42,100 of these lost jobs)
2. Manufacturing: 48,000 jobs
3. Employment services: 41,800 jobs

Biggest Job Gainers:
1. Health care and Social Assistance: 33,500 jobs (health care--an H-1B eligible field, accounted for 22,800 jobs)
2. Leisure and Hospitality: 18,000 jobs
3. Government: 18,000 jobs
4. Mining: 6,100 jobs (H-1B eligible engineering positions can be found in this industry e.g., in oil and gas extraction)

Note: those are monthly changes. So far, the health care industry has created 85,000 jobs this year. Mining has created, 13,500. Leisure and hospitality has seen 47,000 jobs created this year. Educational services (an H-1B eligible field) has seen the creation of 29,200 jobs this year.

Source of Labor Information: Bureau of Labor Statistics

If one could essentially seamlessly shift construction and/or manufacturing workers into such fields as health care or educational services, one could make the argument that H-1B visas are not necessary. However, even as the economy slows, growth is continuing in such fields as health care or educational services where labor conditions are tight.

Originally Posted by Rogue With the US economy going to pot with rampant unemployment starting to happen everywhere, why are we approving ANY h1-v visas?