America has long prided itself on being a country of immigrants. But in the midst of this nine-year economic boom, that pride is increasingly tinged with a sense of desperation. Fla. She recalls a local job fair that attracted 30 potential workers for 32 employers. Hilton is hardly alone. From programmers in Silicon Valley to restaurant bus boys in Bethesda, Md., and nurses in New York, immigrants are filling jobs that might otherwise go begging.
Economists say the cross-border flow of workers provides a critical boost for the surging economy.
Every extra person who's skilled and available to work helps to maintain price stability,'' says Neal M. Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse First Boston. No one knows for certain just how big the immigrant labor force is or how fast it's growing. And based on growing discrepancies between employment surveys of households and companies, Soss believes the number of illegal immigrants may have grown by 600,000 last year, far more than the usual estimate of 275,000. Already, the Clinton Administration plans a drive to grant residency to an estimated 500,000 long-term illegal immigrants. Though current bills would raise that figure to about 200,000 a year, the Information Technology Assn. of America figures it will suffer a shortfall of 850,000 skilled workers over the next 12 months.