Despite Growing Employment Latinos Lack Job Security

The recent news that the unemployment rate had dipped below nine percent has been both a sigh of relief and a reason to cheer, especially among those who found work. For those still “between jobs” the news is neither relief nor heartwarming. Many Latinos find themselves in the still-looking group. Many other Latinos have given up hope of finding a  job and are no longer looking for work, and a big chunk of those who do have jobs still feel anxious about the future.

It’s not a pretty picture, but according to the National Council of  La Raza it’s a stark reality.  Fox News Latino reports:

According to NCLR, the surveys show that a lack of well-paid jobs prompts many Latinos to give up looking for work altogether. Between January and February, 187,000 Latinos left the work force completely because they couldn’t find jobs.

A joint survey by the Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University said that 33 percent of Latinos expressed “anxiety” about job security, compared with 22 percent of African Americans and 20 percent of whites.

The irony is that the job sector that has seen most of the growth is the service industry, where most Latinos are employed. Yet it’s also where most Latino job anxiety exists.  NCLR says that federal jobs legislation should concentrate on “measures to improve the quantity and quality of employment in poor communities, where the lack of formal education and job training is more obvious.”

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter @vlanda.