Immigrants are gaining faster in the U.S. labor market at both the low and high ends of the pay scale than Americans, according to Labor Department data. Unemployment among immigrants declined from 9.7 percent in 2009 to 8.1 in 2012. During that same interval, unemployment for native-born workers declined from 9.2 percent to 8.1. According to one economist, this trend helps to make the economy more “efficient.”