The recession has hit Hispanic immigrants especially hard. They have suffered more job losses than most other workers, and their earnings remain lower than those of other groups. Among foreign-born Hispanics, an estimated 47 percent are illegal immigrants. Although some of those immigrants have been pushed by the economic slump to leave the United States, most have stayed and are struggling to hold on to jobs.READ FULL STORYRead more…
As the economic crisis gathered steam last year, Americans became increasingly stressed out and experienced worsened mental health — a trend that continues today, according to a landmark Gallup-Healthways poll out this week.
Done nearly every day in 2008 and still ongoing, the survey of 355,334 people is believed to be the largest, longest and most thorough poll showing how emotional well-being shifts with economic changes. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The immigration issue has receded in importance for Latinos amid their mounting alarm over the economy, according to a nationwide poll released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.
Only 31 percent of Latinos surveyed cited immigration as an "extremely important" priority for the incoming Obama administration, ranking the issue behind not only the economy but education, health care, national security and the environment. READ FULL STORYRead more…
A Washington think tank says Nevada had the highest unemployment rate among Hispanics in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2009.
The Economic Policy Institute, a labor-leaning economic think tank, says in a report that the state's unemployment rate among Hispanics was 16.4 percent. California came in second at 15.7 percent.
The report says the rate is due in part to a large number of job losses in the construction industry.
The overall Nevada unemployment rate in the quarter was 11.3 percent. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Banco Azteca, controlled by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas, says the financial crisis offers the bank a chance to enter the U.S. market and lure Hispanic customers.
The bank is considering bringing its core products -- money transfers, loans of less than $300 and life insurance for $4 a week -- to California, Salinas said in an interview yesterday in San Diego. Hispanics make up a third of the state’s population of about 37 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“With the credit crunch there is tremendous opportunity,” Salinas said. “Our bank is very stable. We can afford to poke our nose around.”
Azteca is Mexico’s 10th-largest bank in terms of lending, with 23.2 billion pesos ($1.76 billion) in its credit portfolio at the end of March, according to government statistics. The company, a unit of Salinas’s Grupo Elektra SA, operates in seven other countries, including Brazil, Peru and Honduras. READ FULL STORYRead more…
