LATINO PERSPECTIVE-I live in Larchmont Village, and everyday I walk my dog around the neighborhood, and when I see construction going on, I would say that seven out of ten construction workers are Latino. And I’m being conservative.
Just walk around town, maybe after the weather cools down a bit, and you will see at any given construction site that the majority of the workers are Latino. I agree with La Opinion reporter Ana Nieto, though, when she says that it’s way easier to find Latinos working at hotels, bars, restaurants, at street vending sites and as housekeepers than in LA’s downtown financial district.
But there is hope out there because the labor market is recuperating. Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire saw gains last August, posting a decline in unemployment. LA County boosted its payrolls with 7,900 new jobs and the county’s jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent, down from 7.2 percent in July and 8.1 percent a year earlier. Recent studies from the Department of Labor support these numbers, but change in employment rates is not coming fast enough for Latinos in Los Angeles.
Around fifteen percent of Latinos in Los Angeles area are unemployed. Statistics from the Department of Labor also show that many of the jobs Latinos hold are not stable or only provide low wages. Latinos still have the highest concentration of workers in the lowest-paying industry – service occupations.
The pool of Latinos who can work in LA is growing faster than any other group, and there are many more Latinos working in LA than ever before. But jobs have not grown as fast as the Latino population in LA and they have not yet recovered to pre-crisis levels, according to La Opinion.
The good thing is that construction, the sector that employs most Latinos, has added 6,120 jobs so far this year. This is an indication that residential and commercial development is coming back and also an indication that the economy is improving. One added bonus about this industry: it pays above average wages compared to many others.
I’m just hoping that as our economy continues to grow, and with the recent vote to increase the minimum wage in Los Angeles, that every Latino in town who is willing to work hard and wants a decent paying job can find one.
The following are percentages of Latinos working in various fields in the greater LA area in 2014, according to the US Department of Labor:
27.3% Construction.
23.1% Farming.
22.3% Restaurants, bars, and hotels.
17.2% Mining, oil and gas extraction.
16.4% Commerce.
16% Business Professionals.
11.5% Education, and health services.
11.4% Public Administration.
11.3% Finance.
(Fred Mariscal came to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1992 to study at the University of Southern California and has been in LA ever since. He is a community leader who serves as Vice Chair of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition and sits on the board of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council representing Larchmont Village. He was a candidate for Los Angeles City Council in District 4. Fred writes Latino Perspective for CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected]) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 83
Pub: Oct 13, 2015
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