Bloomberg Surveillance · Friday, October 2, 2026
The precise impact of reduced immigration on the US labor market remains difficult to quantify due to measurement challenges and reporting lags. While a slowdown in labor force growth is evident, separating its impact from other factors like industry-specific demands is complex.
“There have been, I think, first some measurement challenges, right, just in both the surveys and also with employers and reporting.”
“So it depends. We have, with a pretty big time lag, got a sense of what's actually happening in terms of our immigrant workforce. So we don't have a good handle of it.”
“But it is clear the labor force growth is slowing, not just immigration, but that is a piece of the sharp change.”