In this paper, we document the importance of high-skilled immigration for U.S. employment in STEM fields. To begin, we … review patterns of U.S. employment in STEM occupations among workers with at least a college degree. These patterns mirror … peaked around the year 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble. STEM employment shares are just now approaching these …

Even before the Great Recession, U.S. employment growth was unimpressive. Between 2000 and 2007, the economy gave back … the considerable gains in employment rates it had achieved during the 1990s, with major contractions in manufacturing … employment being a prime contributor to the slump. The U.S. employment "sag" of the 2000s is widely recognized but poorly …