Noticias Telemundo features research published by Cal Lutheran’s Center for Economic Research & Forecasting and the Latino GDP Project.

A report from the Latino GDP Project highlights newly released and record-setting population and labor force data. For the first time in history, one of every five people living in the United States is Latino. In 2024, the Latino labor force grew 5.5 percent, the single strongest growth on record and 4.2 percentage points stronger than Non-Latino. And the Latino labor force participation rate sits at an all-time high of 69 percent. The Latino labor force participation premium, that is the difference between Latino and Non-Latino participation rates, hit a record of 6.2 percentage points in 2024.

“Time and time again, we find that hard work, self-sufficiency, optimism and perseverance are the characteristics that underly the strength and resilience of U.S. Latinos,” said Matthew Fienup, executive director of the Center for Economic Research & Forecasting at Cal Lutheran. “By supporting this population, we believe these same characteristics will continue to drive growth in the overall U.S. economy for years to come.”

The Latino GDP Project, an ambitious multi-disciplinary research initiative of Cal Lutheran and UCLA, provides careful, explicit, and timely documentation of the economic powerhouse represented by U.S. Latinos.

Watch the Telemundo feature HERE