THE LABOR-MARKET STATUS OF IMMIGRANTS - EFFECTS OF THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT ARRIVAL AND DURATION OF RESIDENCE

Combining Current Population Survey samples from November 1979, April 1983, June 1986, and June 1988, all of which included data on country of birth and year of immigration, the authors examine patterns of immi grant employment and unemployment. Human capital was less strongly lin ked to employment status for immigrant men than for native-born white men, probably because human capital acquired outside the United States was only imperfectly transferable to the U.S. labor market. Immigrant s had some initial difficulty finding work, but their employment and u nemployment rates quickly attained levels comparable to those of the n ative-born. There is no evidence that immigrants who arrived in a rece ssion were subjected to a long-term ''scarring'' effect. Immigrants' l abor market status appears to have been somewhat more sensitive to cyc lical changes in economic activity than was that of the native-born.