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The hiring in industries with a high participation of Latino workers in the United States has plummeted during the first 14 months of Donald Trump's second term, according to an analysis published this Thursday by a coalition of Hispanic advocacy groups that includes Americans for Tax Fairness, UnidosUS, and Somos Votantes.
The report documents a 72% drop in job creation in sectors with high Latino participation, compared to the equivalent period under the Joe Biden administration.
The transportation and logistics sector recorded 305,000 fewer new jobs compared to the comparable period under Biden, a decline of 274%.
Construction shifted from generating over 200,000 net jobs to just over 44,000, and the diverse services sector plummeted from over 109,000 to merely 7,000.
The groups attribute this deterioration to a combination of factors: the tariffs implemented since the spring of 2025, which increased the costs of construction materials and other sectors; the massive tax law signed by Trump on July 4, 2025, which cut nearly a trillion dollars in Medicaid and food stamps over ten years; and the rise in gasoline prices caused by the war against Iran that began on February 28, 2026.
"Everything is contributing to this storm that we are seeing," said Lisette Engel, director of the economic policy project at UnidosUS.
"It's a combination of the effects of all the actions of this Administration. And we know that immigration policies are also connected," Engel added, pointing out that sectors like construction have historically relied on undocumented workers, whose presence has diminished due to deportations and immigration restrictions.
The immigration policy of Trump has already impacted the labor market for several months.
In the coming weeks, thousands of Latin individuals will also lose access to food stamps from the SNAP program, according to advocacy groups.
The economic impact is having measurable political consequences. A survey by Somos Votantes conducted this month in key states—Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas—reveals that 64% of the Latinos surveyed blame Republican economic policies for the increase in the cost of basic goods.
"The cost of living is the lens through which Latino voters are judging everything and everyone," explained Emmanuel Leal Santillán from Somos Votantes.
Respondents blame politicians more than corporations for rising prices at a ratio of three to one, and they perceive that "public policies prioritize tax exemptions for the wealthiest over working families," according to Leal Santillán.
This shift is significant because many of these voters supported Trump in 2024, hoping for economic relief amid the inflation of the Biden era.
One in three Latinos who voted for Trump already regretted their decision in December 2025, and only one in four Latinos approved of the president in November of that year.
An early sign of the shift was the Republican drop from 46% to 31% of the Latino vote in the New Jersey state elections on November 4, 2025.
The growing discontent among Latinos with Trump has deepened as inflation and unemployment affect Hispanic communities.
Nancy Díaz, a community worker in Colorado, summarized what is at stake: "When Medicaid is cut, it's not just a fiscal policy, but a mother who can't access healthcare. And when SNAP is restricted, that's a child going to school hungry."
Trump himself admitted in December 2025 that the Republicans could lose the 2026 elections, and current data suggests that the Latino vote in key states could be crucial in determining control of Congress in November.
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