Latino immigrants have moved from low-wage jobs into middle-income employment over the past decade, according to a study released this week by the Pew Hispanic Center, which attributed a portion of the shift to the boom in the construction industry — a source of employment for millions of foreign-born workers.
“Foreign-born Latino workers are making progress, and if that appears contrary to our perception, it really has to do with the sheer growth in their numbers,” said Rakesh Kochlar, author of the study. “Their numbers are so large that we are distracted. In relative terms, they are progressing out of the lowest-wage work and progressing toward middle-wage work.”
The study also reveals that Asian immigrants significantly bumped up their status in the high-wage workforce, with the number of Asian immigrants earning more than $24 per hour tripling to 1.2 million in 2005 from 451,000 in 1995. [ the washington post ]
Other numbers from the study:
42%
Percentage of foreign-born Latino workers earning less than $8.50 in 1995
36%
Percentage of foreign-born Latino workers earning less than $8.50 in 2005.
1.2 million
Number of Latino immigrants on the low end of the wage scale, which is about 600,000 fewer than expected based on the growth of the foreign-born Latino population.
