Latino Links: Economic trends

As the nation continues to recover from effects of the great recession, Latinos are expected to account for nearly three-quarters of the nation’s labor force from 2010 to 2020, according to a recent media release by the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.

The commentary, “Labor Force Growth Slows, Hispanic Share Grows,” by Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research for Pew Hispanic Center, is based on new projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The projections also show that Latinos made up 36 percent of the nation’s total increase in the labor force from 1990 to 2000, with that figure jumping to 54 percent from 2000 to 2010.

A rapidly growing population due to births, immigration and the aging of the non-Hispanic white population are the principle reasons for the growth of Latino’s in the nation’s workforce, the center reported.

The Pew Research Center also found that Latinos age 16 years and older had a higher labor force participation rate in 2010 (67.5 percent) than other groups (64.7 percent) because they are a younger population than other groups and include a higher share of immigrants.

However, the overall growth rate is expected to slow in the years to come due to an aging baby boom population that is entering its retirement years, people generally frustrated in their job search efforts during the recent recession and a slight decrease in the number of women entering the workforce, the center reported.

With the Bureau of Labor Statistics expecting non-farm jobs to grow by 19.7 million from 2010 to 2020, the greatest number of new jobs will be in health care and social assistance (5.6 million more jobs), professional and business services (3.8 million) and construction (1.8 million), Kochhar reported. The manufacturing and federal government sectors are expected to report the biggest job losses.

Kochhar said college education will play a key role in employment with the fastest-growing segment of the job market requiring post-secondary education. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, professor of economics at San Diego State University, agrees

“I think the fact that jobs won’t be as available for people who have a lower education might be an incentive for people to continue their schooling,” Amuedo-Dorantes was quoted in a story by Sandra Lilley in NBC Latino.

That is because in the past it was easier for many Latino workers, especially immigrants, to find unskilled labor at a young age and stay in the workforce, Amuedo-Dorantes said.

Click here for the full commentary.

Click here for the full story by NBC Latino.

The Pew Hispanic Center and Pew Social & Demographic Trends are projects of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C., and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

— Latino Links provides a periodic update of trends in digital media, education, lifestyle, marketing and politics impacting the Latino community. Compiled by Amigos805.com