Official Figures Confirm: Immigrants Take Jobs from Brits
Immigrants have taken the overwhelming majority of new jobs created in Britain in the last two years, official figures have proven.
More than 500,000 posts have been taken by foreigners since 2006, and the number of British-born people in jobs has slumped by 149,000 over the same period.
To add insult to injury, young immigrants and those aged over 50 have earned higher average wages than their British counterparts.
The news follows earlier revelations that at least 75,000 foreigners a year are taking jobs for which Brits do not even get the chance to apply — or are even told about.
The Office of National Statistics said more than 500,000 foreigners arrived to live in Britain last year. It was the second-highest annual rise on record.
In the past two years, the number of British-born workers in jobs fell by 149,000 while the number of migrants working here rose by 469,000.
Workers born overseas have therefore accounted for nearly two-thirds (62 percent — around 1.7million) of the employment growth since 1997.
Sir Andrew Green, of the think-tank MigrationWatch, said: “It is striking that there has been a major increase in the employment of economic migrants while the number of British people in employment has fallen in the same period. It is hard to believe that these two developments are unconnected.”
Separate statistics on pay show that British workers tend to earn more than most migrant groups. The average weekly wage for Britons is £438. Only other Western Europeans, on £510, and Australians and New Zealanders, on £577, earn more.
But foreign workers aged 19 to 24 in the UK earn £290 a week, compared to £288 for British workers of the same age.
Foreign workers aged over 50 in the UK earn an average of £469 a week, compared with £462 for British workers of the same age.
