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Journal Article
Immigration and Changes in Labor Force Demographics
Recent shifts in immigration flows have lowered the estimates of net international migration into the United States. New data indicate that net migration will be close to half a million people in 2025, down from 2.2 million in 2024. Estimates based on these data and on past trends for the U.S.-born population suggest that this could lead to a decrease in the working-age population and slower growth in the prime-age labor force. Continued low levels of immigration would lead to decreases in the total prime-age labor force.
Journal Article
The Recent Slowdown in Labor Supply and Demand
The pace of job growth cooled through mid-2025, while the unemployment rate rose relatively little. This seeming puzzle is explained by an even stepdown of labor supply and demand, meaning slowing labor force growth coincided with a slowdown in job growth. The recent decline in job growth is broad based across industries, suggesting a widespread softening of labor demand. For the labor force, recent declines are driven by changes in immigration flows and declining labor force participation. Together, these factors may signal some underlying fragility in the labor market.