The 2005 ACS is designed to provide estimates of the size and characteristics of the population residing in households.

• Tables 1-32: Complete "Hispanics at Mid-Decade"
• Table 3: Detailed Hispanic Origin: 2005 
  • Mexican - 63.9%
  • Puerto Rican - 9.1%
  • Cuban - 3.5%
  • Dominican - 2.7%
  • Guatemalan - 1.9%
  • Honduran - 1.1%
  • Nicaraguan - 0.7% 
• Hispanic Population by State: 2000 and 2005 
   
• Table 17: English Ability by Age, Race and Ethnicity: 2005 
  

The Hispanic unemployment rate reached a historic low of 5.2% in the second quarter of 2006.  Wages for Latino workers also rose between the second quarters of 2005 and 2006, and at a faster rate than for other workers. The healthy job market for Latinos has been driven by the construction industry.

• Construction added nearly a half a million jobs alone between the second quarters of 2005 and 2006, the majority of them filled by foreign-born Latinos.
• Since the jobs recovery began in 2003, nearly 1 million Latinos have found jobs in construction, accounting for about 40% of all new jobs gained by Hispanics.
• The construction sector, however, is showing signs of a slowdown, and that could have an impact on Latino employment.

Download full report. 

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- The top 20% of U.S. households by income collectively spend more than the bottom 60% on goods and services. The richest 20% of households, feeding on the rapidly escalating value of their homes, accounted for 41% of the increase in spending that brought the country out of the 2001 recession. That means the top fifth of households do nearly 40% of the nation's consumer spending.

Download consumer spending chart.