Pay stagnates in sectors full of foreign-born workers ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

[Omaha Steve]

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060903/BIZ/609030317

Pay stagnates in sectors full of foreign-born workers
JAMES PATON
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Posted: 9/3/2006

DENVER -- Walter Marshall knows he's competing with immigrants, both legal and illegal, in his job hunt. He cites a basic economic principle: An influx of Mexicans and Central Americans willing to toil for less money surely depresses wages for working-class citizens.

"Of course it makes it tougher," said Marshall, 54, who recently applied for an $8.25-an-hour job at a downtown Denver Hyatt hotel. "It's supply and demand."

It is easy to find anecdotes and statistics to support the idea that competition from immigrants hurts some U.S.-born workers. But immigration's full effects on the economy are complicated, and the story unfolds differently depending on who's telling it.

Colorado's wage statistics tell one tale.

Pay in construction and hospitality, sectors known for relying heavily on immigrant labor, have not grown as quickly as pay in other areas, state Department of Labor and Employment figures show.

Average construction wages rose 1.2 percent from 2001 to 2005, after adjusting for Denver-area inflation. Hotel, motel and restaurant pay increased 4.2 percent. Contrast that with the finance and health care industries, which saw inflation-adjusted gains of 6.3 percent and 8.9 percent.

Although there is no consensus, many economists agree that if anyone is harmed, it is the low-skilled, poorly educated native. George Borjas and Lawrence Katz of Harvard University looked at 20 years of immigration starting in 1980 and found that a high school dropout who made $25,000 in 2000 would have seen his inflation-adjusted wages reduced by about $1,200, or 4.8 percent. Others see a negligible dip and an actual wage gain for the more educated.

FULL story at link above.