The U.S Great Eagle, Is Also Described As Nation Of Immigrants

15 Jun 2015

A nation of immigrants, that is what America has been described ever since Alexis de Tocquevill’s  “democracy in America “ John Kennedy chose to title a book with that quote before campaigning for President’s post. St. Cloud always had waves of immigration since northern European immigrants have made a decision to mine the granite quarries belonging to that area.

Good data related to immigration outside  US Census until the early 1980’s is not available. It is known fact that, in 1920’s one in five Minnesotans was foreign born. As seen in the nearby graph, the ratio fell to about 1 in 35 in the 1970’s, but presently it rose to 1 in 14.  The composition of the immigrants also changed. The period around the turn of the 20^th century, it saw most immigration coming from Europe. Later waves came from the Southeast Asia,. Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and recently even from East Africa. And most of the latter groups came from the refugee placements.

According to most recent data from the American community survey, it has helped us to understand that the impact of immigration on our workforce. The state demographer’s office does indicate the St. Cloud MS can expect the total labour supply to rise to 11% between 2015 and 2045, an average rise of 0.37 % each year, about 710 persons at the current levels. This is very small compared with the growth rates over 1% a year over the previous 25 years. The immigration does play a significant role in adding the labour force.

According to ACS, in the year 2013, nearly 2.8 % ,representing 3357 people of 122,003 in the18-64 range in the St.Cloud had moved here from outside of the state. Of that total, nearing to 705 came from another nation . Recent averages suggest that, we can expect about 800 people in the 18 to 64 age range  to move to St.Cloud each year from another country. This represents about 0.7% of those in this age range. Increasing participation of the immigrants in the labour force would help in enhancing the labor supply.

There is of course a substantial debate about the impact of the immigrant workers on the economy. We would point a broad consensus among the economist who tend to research this question to say that impact on the economy in the long run is positive. There is less consensus about the short run impact, but in the long run, as additional workers tend to expand their skill sets and firms invest in more capital, the economy enjoys the productivity gains that are needed to improved living standards.

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