An extra special US citizenship ceremony was held on July 2, 2021, for 21 newly-naturalized American citizens at The White House. These US Green Card holders were fortunate to have their naturalization ceremony just in time to celebrate Independence Day (the 4th of July holiday) as brand new American citizens. President Joseph Biden welcomed the happy immigrants in the East Room of The White House, declaring, “It’s the dreams of immigrants like you that build America and continue to inject new energy, new vitality and new strength.” The Oath of American Citizenship was administered by the head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), Tracy Renaud. Also attending the American citizenship ceremony was Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), who is himself the son of immigrants. The DHS chief told the 21 immigrants after they received their American citizenship, “Our country is also better today because its identity and its fabric as a nation of immigrants is stronger because of you,” A US Green Card holder has the opportunity to apply to become an American citizen after living in the USA for five years and satisfying other eligibility requirements. When Joe Biden became President of the United States earlier this year, he promised to seek a US immigration policy that is more compassionate and better organized than was the case with the previous president. To read more, click here!

US jobs in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field are the fastest growing jobs in America. Examples of high-demand STEM occupations include actuaries, cloud computing professionals, critical care nurses, epidemiologists, software developers, among many others. Since 2000, three times the amount of STEM jobs in the USA have been created than non-STEM occupations. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecast, around 531,200 new US jobs in the STEM sector will be generated between 2019 and 2029. Computer and information jobs in America are predicted to increase by 11% during the 2019-2029 time frame, which is faster than the average for jobs in the US overall. A key challenge facing employers, however, is there are not enough qualified STEM professionals to fill all of these new US job openings. For example, there were approximately 2.4 million unfilled STEM jobs in the USA during 2018, due to a shortage of qualified professionals. To read more, click here!

The economic principle of “supply and demand” can be seen at work in America as the high demand for employees and the low supply of workers is giving US job seekers an advantage over employers. Now that the world’s largest economy is bouncing back from the pandemic disruptions, employers are facing a challenge trying to hire workers to fill open jobs in the United States. As a result, US job seekers may have an advantage when negotiating with employers for pay. Many employers are offering higher wages and other benefits, such as flexible work schedules, in order to fill US job vacancies or to retain their current employees. In some cases, employers are relaxing their education criteria for certain jobs in the US (for example, not requiring a university degree if the worker has the necessary skills and experience). To read more, click here!

There are currently a record 9.3 million US job openings available to workers, according to the US Department of Labor’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report released in early June 2021. This breaks the previous record of 8.3 million US job vacancies reported by the Department of Labor last month. Days earlier, the Labor Department announced that 559,000 US jobs were created in May and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent, yet, millions of workers are still needed in America’s booming labor market. The JOLTS report also revealed that 3.95 million people who were working in the USA quit their jobs, which is considered an indicator of confidence Americans have that they can find another job in the US. To read more, click here!

On June 4, 2021, the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 559,000 more people were working in the USA during May. The BLS also reported that the unemployment rate in the US dropped to 5.8 percent, which is the lowest since the start of the global pandemic. Economists generally consider 5.0 percent unemployment to be “full employment”. Speaking about the new US jobs report, President Joseph Biden declared, “That means we have now created over 2 million jobs in total since I took office, more jobs than have ever been created in the first four months of any presidency in modern history, triple the rate of my predecessor, eight times the rate of President Reagan.” President Biden also said, “No other major economy is gaining jobs as quickly as ours” and gave credit to people living in the USA wearing masks and getting vaccinated, which has allowed more American businesses to open up and hire workers to meet consumer demand. As the economy continues its rapid recovery, employers are facing a shortage of workers to fill a range of jobs in the USA. This current labor shortage is expected to increase as the world’s largest economy expands, creating new jobs in America, and as more “baby boomer” workers retire this decade. To read more, click here!

A 10-year-old former refugee from Nigeria has become a national chess master after moving to America. In 2017, young Tani and his family were able to relocate to the USA as refugees and they settled in New York City where the boy joined the chess program at his school. He started defeating other young chess players all across New York and went on to win the chess championship for New York state, which gained him international acclaim. Two years later, Tani has become a national chess master for the United States after winning over 2200 victories over his opponents. His proud father, Adewumi, says his son hopes to become the world’s youngest chess grand master. This US immigration success story doesn’t stop here. Adewumi and his family struggled with finding stable housing after moving to the US as refugees and they were temporarily in a New York homeless shelter. An American journalist who is known worldwide wrote an article about young Tani and before long, this Nigerian immigrant family received $254,000 in donations to their GoFundMe account. Today, they are living in a nice home in Port Jefferson , New York. Not only that, Adewumi and his family have established a foundation to raise money to help other children who are in similar situations. A book about Tani has also been published and a movie about his inspiring US immigration experience could be made in the near future. Tani’s family hopes that his story will inspire refugees around the globe to “keep hope alive.” To read more, click here!

The United States is experiencing a major labor shortage and this is forcing employers to increase wages at the fastest rate in 25 years in order to fill US job vacancies. According to the US Department of Labor’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report released in early May 2021, there are more than 8 million jobs in the USA available to job-seekers. This is the most US job vacancies since December 2000. Employers in various business sectors are trying to attract new workers by significantly increasing wages. For example, one of the world’s largest banks raised its minimum hourly wage from $20 per hour to $25 per hour and an international sporting goods store is increasing the hourly wage paid to its employees from $10 per hour to $15 per hour. One of the largest fast-food restaurants in the world has also announced that its 36,500 employees who are working in the USA will get a 10% pay raise. A chief economist at Moody’s Analytics said that US wage growth during the first three months of 2021 is the highest since the 1990s. The Credit Suisse chief equity strategist declared that employers are increasing pay “everywhere” – in finance, manufacturing, retail and other business sectors. To read more, click here!

Data from the 2020 Census suggests that US immigration needs to increase substantially in order to sustain economic growth in the United States by compensating for a declining birth rate and an aging workforce. According to the information gathered for the US Census, the population of the United States grew by only 7.4% from 2010 to 2020; a slow rate of growth not seen since the 1930s. This is something that American leaders should be concerned about, because there is a consensus among economists that economic growth in prosperous countries is driven by an increasing population. This situation is compounded by the declining birth rate in the US and the country’s aging workforce. The solution is to increase the number of babies being born in the United States or significantly increase US immigration. Encouraging people to have more children might make a small impact, but the most effective way to boost the population and expand the workforce is by increasing US immigration levels. The average age of individuals who immigrate to the United States is 31, which is a prime working age. Furthermore, immigrants start more businesses and create more jobs in the USA than people who are born in the United States. Some experts have recommended raising net immigration to the United States by a minimum of 37% or by an additional 370,000 Green Card holders per year in order to replace retiring workers and fill new jobs in the USA. To read more, click here!

The US economy is off to a good start in 2021, with GDP growing at an annualized rate of 6.4% during the first three months of the year. With a majority of American consumers feeling confident about economic conditions in the United States and starting to spend the $4.1 trillion they saved during the pandemic lockdowns, the US economy is expected to enjoy its best year of growth since 1951, according to some analysts. The US economy is forecast to grow at an incredible annualized rate of 13% during the second quarter of 2021 (April, May and June) and have an overall GDP growth rate of around 7.5% for the year. Americans were purchasing cars and other goods in the first three months of the year, but strong spending on services is expected to sustain healthy economic growth during 2021 and into 2022 as more people dine in restaurants and travel. The economic expansion during the first three months of 2021 was boosted by the $600 and $1400 stimulus checks that most Americans received from the US Government. Consumers took that extra money and bought cars, appliances, furniture and other goods. To read more, click here!

On April 2, 2021, the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 917,000 new jobs in the USA were added to the economy during March 2021, dropping the country’s unemployment rate down to 6 percent. The BLS also increased its US jobs estimates for the previous two months, reporting that 233,000 people found work in America during January and 468,000 US jobs were filled in February. The hospitality and leisure sector created 280,000 jobs in the USA during March; restaurants and bars hired 176,000 employees; and the construction industry added 110,000 workers. Approximately three million people living in the US are being vaccinated each day and this is allowing more sectors of the economy to re-open, making it necessary for employers to hire thousands of workers to meet the growing demand. The world’s largest economy is expected to get a big boost this year from the $1.9 trillion stimulus package recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden. The massive infrastructure program which President Biden has separately proposed to Congress will also produce thousands of new jobs in America. To read more, click here!