Latino Buying Power Surging, Study Finds

The buying power of U.S. Latino consumers is growing at three times the rate of inflation and is slowly gaining on black purchasing power, according to a study by University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. Latino purchasing power--the total personal income available after taxes for spending on goods and services--will reach $348 billion this year, up from $325 billion last year, the study said. It is up 65% since 1990, when it totaled $211 billion. During the same period, inflation was 23%, overall U.S. buying power grew 41% and African American buying power grew 54% to $469 billion this year. Americans claiming Latino ancestry make up about 11% of the population--28.6 million people--and have 6.1% of the $5.7 trillion in total buying power, the study said. Jose Nino, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, said the study “shows the Hispanic market is here and unless corporate America begins to actively cater to the market . . . they’re going to miss the market.” Latino buying power is concentrated in just a few states, with more than two-thirds of it in California.