Despite Economic Hardships, Latino Businesses Driving Recovery

Latino-owned businesses and are driving the economic recovery in the U.S.,  according to a recent report from Forbes. Using data from the Census Bureau the report noted that revenue from these businesses jumped 55% to almost $350 billion in the past five years, and the trend is for Latino-owned businesses to continue to do well.

For example, revenues from these types of companies are expected to grow by 8% every year until 2015. We’ve reported that Latinas are opening businesses at a rate six times the national average, and Forbes also noted that 20% of businesses in New Mexico, Texas, Florida, and soon in California, are owned by Latinos.

What makes these statistics even more interesting, is the fact that Latinos were the hardest hit in the recession, losing 66% of median household wealth as a group. Latinos also earn less than their white and African American counterparts as a group. The poverty rate for this group is the highest in the nation, as is unemployment.

So, in the face of great economic hardship, Latinos are opening businesses and earning high revenues. This may contribute to the fact that the majority of new homeowners in the country right now are also Latino. That said, it’s disappointing to see that despite the positive contributions of Latinos to the economy in the country, discriminatory financial practices still plague this community.

The silver lining here is that the Census data is likely undercounting the contributions of Latino businesses, some estimates put the revenues as high as $547 billion — and that was in 2008.  are given the success of these businesses in the face of such dire economic circumstances, it’s likely that their growth will surely continue.