By George Megalogenis and Paige Taylor
February 28, 2008 06:00am

MIGRANTS secured more than half of the 240,000 full-time jobs created over the past 12 months as employers ran out of qualified local-born people to fill job vacancies.

Overseas-born Australians enjoy a lower unemployment rate than their local-born counterparts – 4.4 per cent to 4.6 per cent.

The advantage is greater still for English-speaking migrants from New Zealand, Britain and Ireland, who all boast unemployment rates with a three in front of them.

The latest official data explodes the myth of the ethnic welfare bludger and warns, instead, that the Australian-born are more likely to form the bulk of the nation’s underclass because those locals who remain out of work don’t appear to have the necessary skills.

Britain, China, India

Employers are increasingly relying on new arrivals from Britain, China and India, as well as more established immigrant groups such as New Zealanders and Southeast Asians.

The overseas-born claimed 129,700, or 53.9 per cent, of the 240,500 full-time jobs created in the 12 months to January.

Migrants account for just 28.6per cent of the nation’s working age population, according to the detailed breakdowns that the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases after the monthly labour force survey.

Of those who remained unemployed last month, the Australian-born numbered 374,100 compared with 127,900 for the overseas-born.

Migrants represent just 25.5 per cent of the total unemployed.

“No struggle”

Hairdresser Vanessa McCartney, 41, already had work lined up when her plane from London touched down in Perth last July.

She left that job seven months later and was rehired the same day by a salon in the northern Perth suburb of Innaloo.

“Not having to struggle to get work has taken the stress out of moving countries,” Ms McCartney said yesterday.

Finding an experienced, eager worker such as Ms McCartney was a relief for Bossanova Hair Studio owner Vera Caminiti, who said it had never been more difficult to find staff in her 25 years in the industry.

Ms McCartney’s husband, Mark, a refrigeration mechanic who ran his own business in southeast London, started work on the couple’s third day in Australia.

Stereotypes challenged

British- and Irish-born migrants have an unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent, almost half the 6.5 per cent of six years ago.

The near-full employment economy is challenging stereotypes. Non-English-speaking groups that suffered double-digit unemployment a few years ago have seen those rates tumble.

The unemployment rate for the Vietnamese-born has been slashed from 14.1 per cent in January 2002 to 4.6 per cent last month, driven mostly by a surge in part-time work. The rate for the Lebanese-born, fell from 15per cent to 9per cent over the same period.

The only groups to remain in double digits last month were from North Africa and the Middle East, on 12.2 per cent.

Six years ago, Kiwis were among our least employable migrants – their unemployment rate was 8.7 per cent, compared with 8.2 per cent for all overseas-born, and 7.3 per cent for the Australian-born.

Last month, the New Zealand-born unemployed rate was down to 3.6 per cent, compared with 4.4 per cent for immigrants generally and 4.6 per cent for the Australia-born.

Source: News.com.au