Say Anything Blog

It is pretty clear that the housing industry has slowed considerably. This article paints an interesting picture of the economic and employment impacts of the slowdown:

WASHINGTON - As the construction industry has slumped, the unemployment rate among Hispanic immigrants has climbed, an analysis released Wednesday shows.

For the first time in five years, foreign-born Hispanics have a higher unemployment rate than do Hispanics born in the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center’s analysis of census and Labor Department data.

The unemployment rate for Hispanic immigrants was 7.5 percent during the first months of this year, compared with 6.9 percent among native-born Hispanics. During the same period in 2007, the rates were 5.5 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

“The unemployment rate has shot up because of the slump in construction and Hispanic workers had done very well finding jobs in the construction industry as it was booming,” said Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research. “Having become somewhat dependent on this industry, they were more vulnerable to the downturn.”

An overwhelming majority of jobs lost in the construction industry were held by foreign-born Hispanics.

Mexican immigrants have been hardest hit; their unemployment rate jumped from 5.5 percent last year to 8.4 percent. The employment downturn added about 255,000 Hispanic immigrants, most of whom are Mexican, to the ranks of the unemployed.

Foreign-born Hispanics could have entered the country legally or illegally. The report does not divide the immigrant numbers along those lines although undocumented workers can be found in the construction industry. For that reason, stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws also has played a role in the job losses, Rakesh said.

Notice how they don’t come right out and tell the truth--

1. Stepped up enforcement is increasing the unemployment rate for illegals.

2. The unemployment rate for US Born Hispanics has “shot up” .2% over the last year while the unemployment rate for non-US born Hispanics has increased by 2%.

3. The unemployment rate for Mexican Immigrants has increased by 3%.

Let’s assume that legal immigrants with green cards and equal job skills, equal proficiency in English, and the same work ethic are as likely as their peers who are US born to obtain employment. Actually, this assumption is almost certainly fact given that until the last year, US Born workers had a HIGHER unemployment rate than foreign born workers. This gives us a few possible explanations:

1. Employers suddenly don’t like the skills and work ethic of foreign born workers.

2. The majority of foreign born Hispanics lack job skills that are needed since the construction slow down cut the demand for unskilled labor.

3. Stepped up enforcement and arrests at major companies by INS caused employers to think twice about employing illegals.

--or--

4. This is more evidence of the Bush Recession and not only does Bush hate black people (Kanye), but he hates Hispanics as well. And the rest of Americans are racists for not hiring them. And we need to vote Obama because he will ensure that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless.