Study Outlines COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effects on Immigration and US Labor Market

A prevailing narrative about immigration is that migrants displace U.S.-born residents in the workforce, but new research from UC Davis economists shows that’s not the case. The study published in the Journal of Population Economics details how the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in immigration to the U.S. and how jobs often filled by migrants were not filled by U.S.-born residents.    

Using Machine Learning to Detect Coronavirus Threats

An artificial intelligence model has successfully identified coronaviruses capable of infecting humans, out of the thousands of viruses that circulate in wild animals. The model, developed by a team of biologists, mathematicians and physicists at UC Davis, could be used in surveillance for new pandemic threats. The work was published in Scientific Reports.

Babies Remember Faces Despite Face Masks, UC Davis Study Suggests

Babies learn from looking at human faces, leading many parents and childhood experts to worry about possible developmental harm from widespread face-masking during the pandemic. A new study by researchers in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science allays those concerns, finding that 6- to 9-month-old babies can form memories of masked faces and recognize those faces when unmasked.

COVID-19 Beliefs Influenced by Politicians, Not Scientists, Researchers Suggest

As COVID-19 upended societal norms when it swept through the United States in 2020, a second pandemic — or “infodemic” — was also on the rise. An analysis of Twitter users by researchers at UC Davis and the University of Texas, Austin, suggests that Republican-identifying people who believe their local government has positive intentions are vulnerable to believing politically fueled COVID-19 misinformation. The study did not find the same trend among Democrat-identifying Twitter users.

LGBTQ+ Youth Face Increased Anxiety Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

While a life-altering pandemic has caused a substantial uptick in anxiety and depression symptoms among adults and children alike, LGBTQ+ youth have turned to peers in anonymous online discussion forums for support. New research from UC Davis suggests these LGBTQ+ teenagers — who already experience disproportionate levels of psychological adversity — exhibited increased anxiety on the popular r/LGBTeens subreddit throughout 2020 and the start of 2021.

How Is the Economy Doing Post-Pandemic?

The economy is rapidly growing coming out of the pandemic, but prices are rising and supply chains are fragile. Are these just glitches, or are the changes here to stay? UC Davis LIVE held a conversation, hosted by Soterios Johnson, on the future of the U.S. economy following the pandemic. Òscar Jordà and Marianne Bitler, professors in the Department of Economics, focused on the current state of the U.S. economy, short- and long-term changes to look out for, and whether we would be anxious or confident about our economic future. The show was livestreamed July 1.