The Household Employment Survey, used by the Federal Government to calculate unemployment rates, reported a 122,000 job loss in the month of November 2012

While the unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, the unemployment rate fell basically because the U.S. labor force shrank by even more than employment — by a whopping 350,000 in November 2012. The labor force participation rate (percent of the working age population working or looking for work) fell to 63.6%. That is among the lowest participation rates in 30 years. Participation rates typically tank when potential job seekers lose confidence in the job market. The overall trend of the Obama years has been disastrous for native-born American workers. From January 2009 to November 2012, foreign-born employment rose 1.579 million, or by 7.3%, while native-born employment fell by 0.538 million, or by 0.5%. Since Obama took office, native-born American job losses are about one-third the immigrant job gains. Put differently, during the Obama Era, an average of one native-born American worker has been displaced per every three foreign-born workers added to the U.S. workforce. Moving the economy to 5% unemployment — a return to the rate that prevailed when the recession began — would require job growth of about 270,000 a month. But as much as one-third of that would be required just to absorb the average monthly increase in legal immigration.