Immigrants and the Job Markets in the West

African migration to rich countries has been associated with overloads of toxic phenomena. The mass societal poverty of the third world young generation, caused by numerous factors.

Through the internet and cable TVs, the west has offered a perspective of the Western dream. A haven for young African dreamers who are ready to use any means to have a share of this all-perfect life. The young Africans are ready to leave. By means legal and illegal, some of them succeed and most of them don’t give upon these desperate voyages.

Each of these journeys are a triumph of the Human spirit, ingenuity and courage overcoming the bureaucratic barriers imposed by the fearful rich countries. From this point of view any migration policy other than the open door (legal) is mean-spirited.

With all the barriers, how are immigrants boosting the United State’s job markets without affecting inflation?

Rob Wile of NBC wrote, “Blockbuster job growth continues to power the U.S. economy, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting, with over 303,000 payrolls added in March alone”

Usually, such strong growth might signal that inflation could pick up. If employers see more demand for goods and services, they need to hire more workers- and if there aren’t enough workers, they have to increase pay, which increases the overall cost of production.

Economists believe that the post-pandemic surge in immigration is a key reason the U.S economy has been able to grow steadily without pushing inflation higher, as the new arrivals have helped employers fill roles at levels of pay that have kept a lid on overall price growth.

David Mericle- Goldman Sachs chief economist wrote-  “The rising immigration had boosted labour force growth. As a result, the strong demand that consumers continue to exhibit elsewhere is unlikely to raise prices by much.”

In fact, so far, measures of labour market “tightness,” like wages, “have continued to fall or move sideways, not rise,” -Mericle said.

“Won’t stronger growth prevent inflation from falling or even reignite it?”-Mericle said. “We don’t think so.”

The Congressional Budget Office, “a nonpartisan federal agency”, was the first to cite the immigration surge that began in 2022 as the primary factor helping to expand the overall size of the U.S. labour force.

In 2024, the agency increased its projection of how large the U.S. labour force could be in 2033 by over 5 million people. Most of that increase is expected to be a result of higher projected net immigration.

In addition to this, there is a positive change in real pay for lower-wage workers (which comprise mostly of immigrant workers) from pre-pandemic period up to date; mixed evidence shows lower or no growth for higher-wage workers.

Immigration Creates a Mirage of Economic Prosperity in Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, fueled economic growth and plugged gaps in the labour market by ramping up immigration. Since taking power in 2015, Trudeau has brought in an estimated 2.5 million new permanent residents, driving the population above 40 million. But the new arrivals are straining the public services and contributing to an overheating economy, economists say.

Canada’s population grew at its fastest pace since 1957 last year, placing it among the top 30 fastest growing countries in the world, Statistics Canada said, in part offsetting the effects of ageing residents who are retiring and adding to healthcare costs.

Marc Ercolao, an economist at TD Economics said- “In large part thanks to immigration, Canada has matched the U.S with an average GDP growth of just over "2 percent over the past decade, well above the 1.4 percent G7 average."

Though the effects caused by rapid immigration are starting to surface.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said, immigration adds to both supply and demand, but the overall effect has increased the need for higher interest rates while immigrants help to ease the labour shortages. They added to consumer spending and housing demand.

“If you start an economy with excess demand and you add both demand and supply, you are still in excess demand.”- He said

The more concrete problems are the growing strains on housing, healthcare and other public services, issues that have begun to stress the federal government as municipal and provincial leaders increase calls for more funding to address.

‍