The stalling economy and subsequent slump in the construction industry is taking its toll on U.S. immigrant workforce, according to a new study.
The unemployment rate for Hispanic immigrants rose to 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008, compared to a 6.5 rate last year during the same time period, says a study from the Pew Hispanic Center.
It’s the first time in five years that a grater number of Latino immigrants are unemployed than U.S.-born Hispanics, the study adds.
“The latest trends in the labor market represents a dramatic reversal for Latino workers,” said Rakesh Kochhar, an associate director of research at the Pew Hispanic Center. “Hispanics lost nearly 250,000 jobs over the past year in the construction sector alone. For several years, construction was the mainstay of job growth for Hispanic workers, especially those who are immigrants.”
The unemployment rate for Hispanics overall reached 6.5 percent during the first quarter of 2008, up drastically from the historic rate of 4.9 percent during the last quarter of 2006.
Mexican immigrants, the report showed, have hit especially hard by the downturn in construction. Of the 221,000 Hispanic immigrants who lost their jobs in 2007, roughly 152,000 were from Mexico, according to the Center, which based its figures on the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Latino immigrants who are recently arrived in 2000 or later years lost 69,000 jobs in construction,” said Kochhar. “For both these groups of immigrant workers, from Mexico or those who have arrived recently, jobs lost in construction accounted for the majority of job losses in 2007.”
Despite the dismal employment numbers and a beleaguered economy, the report found that Latino immigrants are not leaving the United States.
The report did not differentiate between undocumented immigrants and legal U.S. residents.
