A report released today by the California Budget Project found that Latino workers' wages in California have risen more than twice as fast as pay for any other group since the mid-1990s, narrowing the earnings gap. The stronger Latino pay gains have been attributed to strong job growth in industries such as hospitality and healthcare, which tend to employ many Latinos, boosts in the state's minimum wage and increased unionization of lower-paying occupations and higher education levels. However, Latinos still make far less than non-Latinos of similar occupations and educational levels and are overrepresented among California's working poor.
See "Latinos' Wages See Growth Spurt", Bill Sing, Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2004