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Each line rebased to 100 where the shared window begins — growth from a common base, not levels.

Foreign-Born Labor Force Labor Productivity
Foreign-Born Labor ForceLabor Productivity Rebased to 100 at Jan 2007
Global Financial CrisisCOVID-19 Recession100110120130140100 = Jan 20072010201520202025Indexed to 100 · r = 0.92 over the overlap — correlation is not causation · econscout.com

Each series rebased to 100 at Jan 2007. foreign_born_lf, productivity · read from cache, latest-revised.

  • Foreign-Born Labor Force

    Number of foreign-born people in the US labor force.

    Number of foreign-born people (naturalized citizens and noncitizens) in the US labor force.

  • Labor Productivity

    Output produced per hour worked, as an index.

    Nonfarm business sector real output per hour of all persons, indexed to 2017=100.

Each measured on its own terms — compare the lenses, not just the lines. Full lessons → Learn

r = 0.92 very strong correlation · 76 overlapping months

…and that proves nothing. Two lines moving together is not one moving the other. Almost any pair of trending economic series correlates highly — they share the same long climb of growth, prices, and population, or it is chance. r measures co-movement over this exact window, never cause. Change the range or swap a series and watch r move. Why correlation isn’t causation →