Immigrants in New York City have a lower unemployment rate and participate in the labor force at a higher rate than native-born Americans, a divergence from the national trends that may reflect optimism about the recovery.  The economic recession didn't hit New York City as badly as other parts of the country. The city lost proportionally fewer payroll jobs than the nation as a whole.

A report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a think tank, shows that in the first five months of 2010 the unemployment rate for immigrants in New York City was 8.8 percent while the rate for native-born residents was 10.9 percent. The city average was 9.9 percent.  "When employers see the light at the beginning of the recovery, when they begin hiring again, the first kind of worker they seek will likely be expendable," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Center in Washington.

"New York has always relied on immigrants, and new immigrants, to drive its economy," he said.  Labor participation rates of U.S.-born New Yorkers declined from 59.2 percent in 2008 to 57.1 percent in 2010, while that of immigrant residents rose from 60 percent to 64.1 percent in the same period, the study said. (click on link to read full story)