New England’s population growth is being driven by people who move from another state or another country. This is especially the case for New Hampshire, which has more international migration than neighboring Maine and Vermont. Census data shows that this has been a key source of growth for the state’s labor force, especially for fields facing shortages, like manufacturing, healthcare and computer engineering.
Any changes in immigration policy in the upcoming Trump administration could impact the state’s labor force, especially for workers who haven’t become citizens yet, according to Brian Gottlob, Director of New Hampshire’s Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau.
“If [immigration] is restricted or slows down for whatever reasons, either by individual choice or by public policies, it could have some detrimental impact on labor force growth,” he said.
Gottlob analyzed five years’ worth of workforce data in New Hampshire and presented it at a conference in November. He said foreign-born workers earned about $4.6 billion between 2018 and 2022, about 7% of the state’s household earnings. From that, non-citizens earned $1.5 billion, which could have a long-term economic impact if immigration policy changes.
“When you think about the possibilities in terms of immigration policy; what would happen if we lost $1.4 billion in earnings? That would be a pretty significant hit.” he said at the conference. “Not to say that all of that would happen, or even a large percentage, but even some percentage of it would have an impact overall on the New Hampshire economy.”
In general, Gottlob said that people born outside of the U.S. are about 6% of the state’s population but 7% of its workforce. They are also more likely to be in the labor force and employed than native born residents. However, they have a slightly higher unemployment rate because the industries they work in – although it’s still lower than the national unemployment rate.
He added that foreign-born workers are also more likely to be in early or mid-career and have an advanced college degree.
Although international migration has slowed since the pandemic, Gottlob has also noticed a growth in the number of New Hampshire workers who are working with H-2b visas in the past 5 or 6 years.
He added that many of these H-2b workers don’t have specialized skills, but are essential in industries like hospitality, landscaping and construction that have been facing shortages since the pandemic.
“That number has more than doubled in the last few years, which says how important that visa program is to some of our key industries,” he said.
