Labor Department Report: Latinos Filled 60 Percent of All New Jobs in 2011

While Latinos were particularly hard hit by the recent recession, new evidence indicates that they are benefiting from modest improvements in the nation’s economy.

Latinos as a group account for just 15 percent of the nation’s workforce, but they have “racked up half the employment gains posted since the economy began adding jobs in early 2010,“ according to Labor Department statistics cited by the Los Angeles Times.

The Labor Department figures show that of the 2.3 million jobs added to the economy last year, 1.4 million, or 60 percent, were filled by Latinos. The sectors where they gained a large share of jobs included hotels, food services, healthcare and manufacturing.

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According to a recent report by Pew Hispanic Center, median household wealth, comprised of all assets minus all debt, plummeted by 66 percent for Latinos from 2005 to 2009, a time span which includes the housing market crash and the recession. By comparison, median household wealth among blacks dropped by 53 percent in the same time period, and 16 percent among whites.

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At 10.5 percent, the Latino unemployment rate in January 2012 was the lowest in three years,

according to the Labor Department. Nationally, the overall unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent as American employers added 243,000 jobs in January.

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So far, Latinos are the only demographic group whose employment numbers have returned to pre-recession levels, the Los Angeles Times reported:

The latest Latino jobless rate of 10.5% remains higher than the overall rate of 8.3% for the nation and 7.4% for whites, partly reflecting their large immigrant population (foreign-born U.S. workers tend to have higher unemployment because of a variety of factors) as well as education and skill levels.

Why are Latinos doing better now than other groups? The Los Angeles Times reports that “they might be more willing to take low-wage, temporary jobs. And they tend to be more mobile, willing to move from one county to another to get a job.”

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