Recent trends in Hispanic immigration to the United States.

Recent patterns of Hispanic immigration to the US are examined using INS data. From 1960 to 1978 Hispanic immigration increased significantly, reflecting the general acceleration in total immigration to the US. Demographic trends reveal that Hispanic immigrants are increasingly working-age women. Their occupation composition is primarily blue collar, with operatives emerging as the predominant job category during the 1970s. Hispanic immigrants settle disproportionately in a small number of immigrant-receiving states, and within these states, in a restricted set of urban areas. These locations tend to be major centers of Hispanic population and culture in the US. Thus, patterns of Hispanic immigration indicate that its effects will be concentrated within the low-skill segment of particular urban labor markets which already contain large numbers of Hispanic workers. -Authors