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Hispanic workers slump in construction industry

 As the construction industry has slumped, the unemployment rate among Hispanic immigrants has climbed, a recent study 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. 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. Stepped-up enforcement of immigration of laws has also played a role in the job losses. The same study shows the leading areas for new jobs for native born Hispanics were in business services – 203,000 new jobs – and hospital and health services, 170,000 jobs.