This post was updated on August 20, 2020 to reflect new job loss data from the Department of Labor

While across the board, workers and families of all kinds saw tremendous job losses unseen since the Great Depression, data from the Department of Labor for March and April 2020 shows that immigrant workers were hit hard by the job losses that have resulted from the coronavirus outbreak. Much of this has to do with the fact that most affected industries from the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, such as hospitality related businesses such as hotels and restaurants, are also ones that have disproportionately immigrant workforces. On top of this, many immigrants are not eligible to receive federal aid through the CARES Act. The resulting loss of income among immigrant households, especially those concentrated in certain states and metropolitan areas, may hinder local economies’ road to recovery in the aftermath of the crisis.

Using the latest data from the American Community Survey and the Department of Labor, we estimate exactly how significant the cost could be for the country and some states.

Monthly data for April 2020 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that:

• The hospitality industry, which includes the food service and hotel and accommodation sectors, again suffered the most severe job loss among industries in April, with more than 6.3 million jobs lost, or 45 percent of the workforce. Nationwide, immigrants make up 22 percent of the hospitality workforce
• The food service sector, which includes restaurants, cut 5.5 million jobs, or 46 percent of the workforce, in April — nearly one-fourth of all job cuts during that time across the country. Meanwhile, 1 in 5 food service sector workers are immigrants
• The hotel and accommodation industry, where 1 in 3 workers are immigrants, cut 839,000 jobs in that same time period. Accounting for more than 30 percent of all job losses, the accommodation and food service sector cut 6.3 million jobs.
• The professional services industry lost 2.2 million jobs or 10 percent of its workforce. This industry, where 1 in 5 workers are immigrants, includes legal, accounting, and business support jobs.
• Meanwhile, the retail trade industry cut 2.1 million jobs, 13 percent of the workforce in April. One in 7 workers in retail trade are immigrants

These losses will be particularly challenging for states and cities where the leisure and hospitality industry employs a large share of the local workforce. In states that have leisure and hospitality workforces that are more heavily immigrant, the challenge is even greater even immigrants’ being more impacted by job losses during the crisis.

For example, in Nevada the leisure and hospitality industry employs a quarter of the state’s workforce and makes up more than 16.3 percent of the state’s entire GDP. More than 1 in 3 leisure and hospitality workers in Nevada are immigrants. In Florida, the $66.6 billion leisure and hospitality industry employs 11.9% of the state’s workforce. More than 1 in 4 leisure and hospitality workers in Florida are immigrants.

Taken together, immigrant workers in the leisure and hospitality sector are significant economic drivers as wage earners, earning more than $83.6 billion nationwide annually. The loss of this income would hurt certain states’ economies in particular as this represents billions in lost tax revenue and consumer spending power the sustains local businesses and jobs.

In Nevada, immigrant workers in the sector earned more than $4.3 billion in wages in one year alone. In Florida, the economic fallout could be even greater. Immigrant leisure and hospitality workers in the state earned more than $8.4 billion in 2018 alone.

The data suggests that the loss of income from just those workers who lost their jobs early in the crisis will already be a serious blow to the economy. This is especially true for states and areas where the economy is particularly dependent on the leisure and hospitality sector. Given that these areas also have higher shares of the workforce that are immigrant, the economic disruption may be exacerbated by fact that many immigrant households will not receive financial assistance from the government. In the longer run, this may hinder local economies’ road to recovery in the aftermath of the crisis.

Despite recent job gains, the August release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the hospitality industry still suffered the most severe job loss among industry sectors during the pandemic, with more than 3.4 million jobs lost between February and July. As a significant share of the hospitality workforce, immigrants have been hit hardest.

• The food service sector, where 1 in 5 workers are immigrants, cut 2.6 million jobs between the end of February and the end of July 2020 — more than 20% of all job cuts at that time across the country. 
• The hotel and accommodation industry, where 1 in 3 workers are immigrants, cut 801,600 jobs in that same time period. Accounting for more than one-fourth of all job losses, the accommodation and food service sector cut 3.4 million jobs.

Two other industries hit hard by the downturn during the pandemic were professional services and healthcare and social assistance. In five months, the professional services industry, including services ranging from legal, accounting, to business support, cut 1.7 million jobs and the healthcare and social assistance sector lost 1.3 million jobs.

• Immigrants make up 1 in 5 workers in professional services and 1 in 6 workers in healthcare and social assistance.

Immigrant workers in these industries hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis are significant economic drivers as consumers and taxpayers. 

• Nationwide, immigrant workers earn more than $83.6 billion annually in the leisure and hospitality industry ($68.7 billion in the hospitality industry alone), $228.1 billion in professional services, and $211 billion in healthcare and social assistance.

If you would like to learn more about immigrants in the United States in the time of Covid-19, check out our research portal on Immigration and Covid-19. If you have any specific questions about our data, please reach out to us at info@newamericaneconomy.org.