Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

NEW YORK—Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization, has released detailed findings for over two dozen immigrant communities in New York in its latest study on the economic contribution of immigrant workers to the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas.

An analysis of data from the past decade and a half show that in the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country, immigration and economic growth go hand in hand and are strongly and positively associated with each other, the report said.

David Kallick, the director of the Immigration Research Initiative at the Fiscal Policy Institute, released the data before numerous representatives from the ethnic and community media during a press briefing organized by New York Community Media Alliance, in collaboration with SEIU 32BJ held last week.

The report – titled "Immigrants in the New York Metro Area Economy: Detail by Country of Origin" – found that the ratio of economic contribution to population in the New York Metro Area was exactly 1.00, meaning that the contribution of immigrants, which was measured in terms of wages and proprietors earnings, is equivalent to the portion of the New York population that is foreign born.

Kallick suggested that this was in large part due to the fact that more immigrants are of working age and tend to work in a wider range of jobs than is expected. He also presented the report’s findings on occupational share of foreign-born workers, discussing the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, India, Jamaica, Haiti and China in great detail.

The occupational share data gives an interesting picture of the job preferences and economic performance of immigrants from 21 countries. These included Dominican Republic, Mexico, India, China, Jamaica, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana/British Guiana, Philippines, Haiti, El Salvador, Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland, Peru, Italy, Russia /Other USSR, Ukraine, Pakistan, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

"The reality is that immigrants play a key role in our society. In all 25 metro areas we studied, the economic role of immigrants were all significant as immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population," Kallick said.

Peter Kwong, Professor of Urban Affairs at Hunter College, echoed Kallick’s sentiments and spoke about "the tremendous contribution of immigrants" to the New York economy and the split among Chinese immigrants between high-paying jobs in administrative and professional fields and low-paying jobs in fields such as food service.

More than half of the Filipinos, according to the report, are in the medical field, administrative support and executive/managerial.