SEARCH
Latinos Being Hit Hard by Economic Slump |
|
The combination of the sluggish economy and the housing crisis affects all workers, and Latinos have been hit hard. A recent report released by the Pew Hispanic Center shows Latinos lost 250,000 jobs in the past year, mainly in the area of home construction, which has been the mainstay of job growth for Latino workers, especially those who are immigrants.
The Pew study shows the unemployment rate for Latinos in the first quarter of 2008 was markedly higher in comparison to the rest of the population, rising to 7.5 percent, well above the 4.7 percent rate for all non-Hispanics. As recently as the end of 2006, the gap between those two rates had shrunk to a historic low of 0.5 percentage points—4.9 percent for Latinos compared with 4.4 percent for non-Latinos, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Click here to read the Pew report.
Milton Rosado, president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), says the report illustrates the aftermath of years of poor economic policies.
The current housing crisis has accelerated Latino unemployment in the construction trades, and there is a lack of bipartisan consensus on policies that will address problems afflicting Latino working families. Wall Street has had its turn. It is time for working families to make their voices heard. Workers nationwide need what the recent economic stimulus package failed to provide: unemployment insurance to address long-term joblessness and a strong housing bill that rescues homeowners from the predatory loans threatening their short and long-term economic stability.
Specifically, LCLAA supports several key bills that would reform the nation’s mortgage industry—the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 3915), Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007 (H.R. 185), and the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act (H.R. 2895). The group also is backing the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act , which would require a review of existing trade agreements, establish standards, protect workers in developing nations and help restore congressional oversight of future trade agreements.
These issues will be important in the upcoming elections, according to Rosado. Latinos are a growing electorate in the United States. The Latino population is expected to reach 47.8 million by 2010. Already, Latinos make up more than 14 percent of the nation’s labor force. Says Rosado:
This is a constituency that cannot be ignored. Latino working families are being limited by the current state of the economy. This is a very unfortunate scenario, as it creates concurrent struggles: stagnant wages, rising food costs and gas prices.
The Pew Center report notes this is the first time in five years that a higher percentage of foreign-born Latinos are unemployed than native-born Latinos. That’s significant because more than half (52.5 percent) of working age Latinos are immigrants.
Gabriela Lemus, LCLAA’s executive director, says such a high level of joblessness is both “unacceptable” and politically dangerous.
Lawmakers continue to have fruitless fights over economic policy necessary to alleviate the burden that the economic slump has imposed on hardworking families. This is an election year, and Latino working families are in need. The increasing relevance of Latinos in the race to the White House, as well as the Senate and House seats, cannot be neglected. Doing so would be a terrible mistake.
No Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
