In the past year employment growth among Hispanics has outpaced that of both whites and blacks.
A New York Times report highlights that in the past 12 months employment among Hispanics — about half of whom are immigrants — has grown 5 percent. Compare that to 3.8 percent for blacks and 1.4 percent for whites.
The Times looked at the phenomena as a product of the last decade and pointed to the rebound in the construction industry and a relative decline in illegal immigration as an impetus for the bright job numbers among Hispanics.
Taken together, the story of the last 10 years looks something like the following: A construction boom from 2004 to 2007 led to a corresponding boom in Hispanic employment, with immigrants gaining 1.6 million jobs and native-born Hispanics gaining 800,000, according to Pew. Unemployment then spiked for both groups during the recession, and contributed to a drop in illegal immigration. And because immigration has never really recovered, the recent rebound in construction is primarily benefiting American-born workers.
With job prospects improving in the low-skill labor arena, the Times notes that illegal immigration will likely grow, as it has already.
Sooner or later, of course, the recovery will begin attracting more workers from Latin America, notwithstanding the beefed-up enforcement. Although illegal immigration is still far below its peak, it has begun to tick up again. Excluding unaccompanied minors, apprehensions at the southern border are up 25 percent since they bottomed out in 2011.
The Times article comes following Breitbart News’ report that February’s jobs numbers further reveal that the net employment gains in the U.S. since the beginning of the recession have gone to immigrants.