Latino Unemployment

Remember what I said about Obama missing an opportunity when he failed to link immigration reform to the economy? According to unemployment numbers that I spotted gracias to the National Institute for Latino Policy, despite some pundits saying that the economy is slowly rebounding, Latino unemployment in the U.S. remains disproportionately high.

It’s being reported that last month overall unemployment dropped to 9.7 percent from 10 percent, not a whole lot really but the tiny drop looks more significant compared to the rise in Latino unemployment.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Latino households in January was an estimated 12.6 percent, compared to 8.7 percent for non-Latino Whites.

(more…)

Post to Twitter

Unemployed Immigrants Living in Caves

253x190_47530.jpgAs I rode the subway home last night, the cold had brought many homeless underground and around them were perimeters of empty seats because no one wanted to sit near them. As unemployment numbers get higher, as does the number of people requiring assistance to buy food, I was thinking how many would rather have those who struggle to survive and don’t fit into the norms because if their class, race, gender identity, immigration status, disappear. A group of unemployed day laborers have had no choice.

For the last few months, a group of immigrants who lost their jobs and have been unable to find work due to the economic crisis, live on the margins, in improvised caves in Plainfield and North Plainfield. My translation.

(more…)

Post to Twitter

The Face of Latino Unemployment

gonzales.jpgPobrecito. Seems that former U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, has been having a rough time finding work ever since he was forced to resign.

He has, through friends, put out inquiries, they said, and has not found any takers. What makes Mr. Gonzales’s case extraordinary is that former attorneys general, the government’s chief lawyer, are typically highly sought.
A longtime loyalist to George W. Bush dating to their years together in Texas, Mr. Gonzales was once widely viewed as a strong candidate to be the first Hispanic-American nominated one day to the Supreme Court. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he carried an impressive personal story as the child of poor Mexican immigrants.

So basically he’s the perfect Latino token for any law firm! The problem is that law firms usually have a problem with liars, especially such public ones (go ahead insert your lawyer joke here- I know you want to).

My local McDonald’s is hiring.

Via / NYT

Post to Twitter

Latinos Working More

employment.jpgMore and more Latinos are working, at least according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.The most recent numbers put Latino unemployment at a new low of 5.2 percent. And according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center:

Unemployment rates between Latinos and “non-Hispanic whites” are now separated by a 0.6 percent margin.

The Pew Hispanic Center’s study also found that Latino workers accounted for about 40 percent of all the workers who joined the U.S. labor force in the last year. Their large numbers are partly due to the boom in the construction industry in southern and western states over the last year.

Via / DiversityInc.

Post to Twitter