A First Look at New Migration Data

Lyman Stone takes an initial peak at new migration data for 2015, released today by the American Community Survey (ACS). According to Stone, the big takeaway is increasing interstate migration, which is up again after declining substantially during the recession.

On a theoretical grounds, this is because anti-migration policies like extended unemployment insurance and other stimulus have calmed down, and because we’ve seen recent economic strength begin boosting wages and pulling some people back into the labor force. On a more practical grounds, ACS 2015 data is measuring many of the same movements that get reported in the March 2015 CPS ASEC.

Stone also breaks down the data according to demographic and regional trends, before concluding that though migration hasn’t quite recovered to pre-recession levels, it’s now “well above the trough.”