According to the US census bureau, 14 percent of the civilian labor force in the US is foreign born.  The Migration Policy Institute has released information on the occupation and industry of foreign-born workers from the 2002 Current Population Survey. 

Currently, there are 18.9 million foreign-born workers in the US, with over one-third from Central America.  Most of the Central Americans hail from Mexico.  Over half of the Central American foreign-born workers are operators, fabricators and laborers or in service occupations. 

Of all foreign-born workers, 19 percent work in professional industries, such as health care, education and other professional services, while another 19 percent work in retail trade.  Central American workers, however, show a different pattern of employment, because of the 7.1 million employed workers from Central America, 21 percent work in retail trade and only 9 percent work in professional related industries.

By comparison, the 116.2 million native US workers mostly work in managerial, professional and technical, sales, and administrative support occupations.