Recession Hurting Latinos More Than Any Other Ethnic Group. But We Have A Plan!

Hi Latinos! Guess what? Not only are we all going to die of diabetes, we're also all going to be unemployed! Guess our plan of stealing gringos' jobs from right under their noses isn't working as well as we'd all planned. One year ago, Latinos held more jobs than did non-Latinos in the United States. We've since slipped. And it seems that this year's recession has its own headquarters - situated in sunny, Latino-rich El Centro, California. The agricultural town has a 22.6% unemployment rate - the highest in the entire nation. The area has been hit heard by a drought, the burst of the housing bubble and the fact that the falling peso has kept Mexican tourists from crossing into the city to shop for crap and Bebe jumpsuits. This recession has differed from earlier economic downturns in that it is hitting blue-collars without college degrees much harder than white-collar employees with marketable resumes and educations. And a lot of those workers? Happen to be Latinos. One reason for this is that the recent housing bust destroyed jobs for people employed by construction and housing companies.  There is, however, a glimmer of hope in all this. Although nearly every state is seeing higher and higher numbers of unemployed inhabitants, there is a stretch of the country - from the Dakotas down into Texas - that's been immune from mass firings and job losses.  So, new plan: We're going to open a chain of botanicas along that strip of the nation (as well as a series of strip joints called "Strip of the Nation") and sell love potions, virility pills, and freshly-baked loaves of pan de chocha for rich European tourists that can afford to travel. Who's in?

Job Losses Show Breadth of Recession [NYT]