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US Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the US economic downturn, but remain optimistic.

According to a January Pew Hispanic Research report, despite believing the economy has hurt them more than other groups, 67% of Latinos believe their financial situation will improve in the next year (figure below), which is in marked contrast to the general US population.

This is great news because optimism is usually an indicator of consumer confidence; if Latinos feel confident with their finances, they will spend more, contributing to economic growth.

And there is some evidence to support high levels of Latino consumer confidence. For example, in 2011, Latinos were estimated to have spent $77.9 billion in telecommunications services alone, representing one-third of all residential telecom expenditures, according to the Insight Research Corporation.

“Hispanics have surpassed the African American population as the largest minority group in the US, and Hispanic purchasing power is now growing at nearly twice the rate of the general population,” explains Fran Caulfield, Research Director at Insight Research. “There are over 32 million Hispanics online today, their usage grows faster than other groups, they are more connected, and they will demand unique services to match their evolving needs.”

So despite economic woes, all is not doom and gloom for the Latino market.

Mitchel

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Voiance Language Services provides multilingual support in over 170 languages to business and government. Organizations use Voiance’s telephone interpretation to facilitate communication with customers. Voiance is a subsidiary of CyraCom International, Inc., the 2nd largest provider of Over-the-Phone Interpretation in the United States.