HispanicBusiness

SANTA BARBARA, CA -- According to new estimates from HispanTelligence®, the research division of Hispanic Business Inc., publisher of Hispanic Business magazine, U.S. Hispanic purchasing power reached nearly $600 billion in the second quarter of 2003. That figure represents an increase of 11 percent over the previous year's purchasing power estimate of $540 billion. The new HispanTelligence calculations are based on the latest available statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Census, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Growth of the U.S. Hispanic population and increasing Hispanic employment and income levels - which have narrowed the disposable-income differential between Hispanics and the overall U.S. population - are key factors accounting for the striking increase in Hispanic purchasing power. In the past 12 months, total U.S. disposable income grew from $7.8 trillion to $8.1 trillion - a 3.6 percent increase. U.S. Hispanic purchasing power now represents more than 7.4 percent of total U.S. purchasing power, compared with 6.9 percent last year.

"Hispanic buying power is one of the many trends that HispanTelligence follows very closely," said Dr. Juan Solana, director of market research for HispanTelligence. "There was little doubt that the purchasing power of U.S. Hispanics - the country's largest minority group - would increase, but such a large rise during sluggish economic times was certainly unexpected."

The HispanTelligence study includes two different projections for future growth of U.S. Hispanic purchasing power. The first scenario is a linear projection based on the historical evolution of both total U.S. and U.S. Hispanic buying power. The second scenario takes into account the observed "catching-up" factor in Hispanic household income. Currently, average household income among Hispanics is about three-fourths of that for the overall U.S. population, but Hispanics' income levels have been catching up rapidly as a result of improvements in their education, occupation, and employment levels. Together, the two scenarios delineate the potential span of U.S. Hispanic purchasing power in the coming years.