The progress of the economy has created a total of 272,000 new jobs in the United States, many more than analysts expected. However, the unemployment rate, which had been below 4% since February 2022, has risen to this percentage. That’s in general terms. In the case of Latinos, their unemployment rate has only been below 4% for one month, in September 2022. The unemployment rate is always higher for this community and, in fact, according to the latest data from May, It is now one percentage point above the general, at 5%, after having risen from 4.1% a year earlier. It exceeds the 4.3% of January and February 2020, the months before the pandemic.
Why do these differences occur? To answer, we must delve into some concepts with which variations in the labor market are measured. It should be noted that the indicators indicate that the Latino community has high rates of active population (67.3%), population over 16 years of age willing to work, compared to other groups. “They have a significantly higher ratio than white or Asian workers,” explains Jessica Vela, associate researcher at the American Progress think tank.
Vela emphasizes a key factor: the fact that this population is the youngest in the United States. There are more people over 65 years of age, Anglo-Saxon or from other communities, many of them so-called baby boomers —the largest generation in the country that is leaving the labor market to retire since 2018.
However, at the same time there are many more Latinos trying to find a job without success. That is, they have a very high labor force participation or active population—those who are employed or actively looking for work—but they face many more problems when it comes to finding employment, as highlighted by Brendan Duke, director of economic policy at American Progress. This is the explanation behind that 5%, a percentage that is above those seen in 2022 and 2023 and also those recorded during the two years prior to the arrival of the pandemic.
“We know that younger workers are more likely to be unemployed, it is always harder to get your first job and a percentage of Latinos are in this situation, although there are other barriers,” explains Duke.
In the case of Latina women, Vela explains that in the past women have had a high unemployment rate and also a lower rate of employed population than men in the same community. But the most recent data show that unemployment has dropped significantly since pre-pandemic times and its employment-to-population ratio has grown to record numbers in 2023. Unemployment of Latina women over 20 years of age this past May It was 4.1%.
Duke says the strength of the labor market in recent years has attracted workers who were long on the margins of the market. “That is why we have seen strong employment rates in all segments of the population” and more workers looking for a job.
“The recovery has been rapid for blue-collar workers without a university degree. Furthermore, they are groups in which there are many Latinos,” explains the expert. “The increase in industrial construction has been a boom for those working in this sector, truck drivers have played a key role and have experienced wage growth in recent years.”
Vela points out that the data they manage shows that in 2023 the salaries of Latino workers, once adjusted for inflation, grew twice as much as that of the rest of the workers in 2019. And it is not just about increases in the minimum wage. After the pandemic there has been a tense labor market, with more job supply than demand, which has allowed these increases. “Employers have been willing to pay more and that’s a good thing,” confirms Duke.
In 2022, the Center for American Progress carried out an analysis with data between 2015 and 2019 that reflected the situation of all nationalities and which pointed out that the reality of employment and economic security was different within the Hispanic community itself. and Latin. This was demographically dominated by the Mexican population, which then numbered more than 36.5 million people. Puerto Ricans were next, with 5.6 million.
One of the conclusions of the study was that homogenizing the Hispanic and Latino community “does not allow us to appreciate and understand the experiences” of each nationality and prevents the search for political solutions that help those who need them most.
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