The precise scale of that economic boost was laid out in the Congressional Budget Office’s latest long-term budget and economic outlook, released Feb. 7. That resulted in net immigration of 3.3 million people last year, up from an annual average of 919,000 in the 2010s. The economic costs and benefits of immigration were an afterthought to the recent compromise effort to overhaul border laws, and its subsequent failure in Congress. The injection of more labor into the economy—without a commensurate increase in capital—also tends to reduce the average worker’s productivity. In the long run, many economists say, immigration is a net economic positive.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 15, 2024 17:44 UTC