Q: Were Verizon employees returning to work included in the number of jobs created in the U.S. Department of Labor’s September report?
—Bob Routier, Johns Creek
A: Employers added 103,000 jobs in September, but 45,000 of them were filled by Verizon workers who were rehired after going on strike. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent in September, according to The Associated Press.
Q: What is the estimate of illegal immigrants by regions of the world? Are there significant numbers other than Hispanics?
—Fred Smith, Tucker
A: The United Nations estimates there are 20-30 million "unauthorized" immigrants worldwide, comprising between 10-15 percent of the world's immigrants. There are about 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. – 81 percent from Latin America, 11 percent from Asia, 4 percent from Europe/Canada and 3 percent from Africa and the rest of the world, a spokesperson with the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute told Q&A on the News in an email. Many other countries have problems with illegal immigrants, according to the Institute. For example: There are 5-6 million illegal immigrants in Russia, most of whom are from other former Soviet satellites; Mexico struggles with controlling unauthorized immigration from South and Central America; Greece has plans to build a wall on its border with Turkey to help stem the tide of illegal immigrants from that country, Africa and Asia; South Africa has been overwhelmed by between 3-5 million illegal immigrants from neighboring Mozambique and Zimbabwe; and even Australia, which doesn't share a border with any country, has about 49,000 illegal immigrants. "Irregular migration is a global phenomenon occurring in all regions of the world and with regional specificities," a U.N. report stated.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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