Mexican-Born Persons in the U.S. Civilian Labor Force

This fact sheet examines demographic and labor market characteristics of Mexican-born workers in the United States and compares them to those of all foreign-born as well as native-born U.S. workers. It focuses on workers age 16 and over who participated in the U.S. civilian labor force in 2006.

The fact sheet finds that Mexican immigrants made up almost 5 percent of the civilian labor force, and accounted for nearly one-third of all foreign-born workers in the United States. The Mexican foreign-born population outperformed both overall native and foreign-born groups in terms of labor market participation in 2006, with over 70 percent of Mexican-born adults in the civilian labor force. The unemployment rate of Mexican immigrants in 2006 was also lower than that of the native born, although slightly higher than that of the total foreign-born population.

The Mexican-born workforce tends to be younger, male-dominated, and less educated than the overall native and foreign-born stock. Over half of all employed Mexican-born persons worked in service and construction occupations. Compared with their native-born and foreign-born counterparts, Mexican immigrants were under-represented in management, professional, and related occupations, as well as in the educational and health industries.