Hispanic workers filled two out of three new U.S. construction jobs last year, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

Most of the new jobs went to foreign- born Hispanics, many of whom had recently arrived in the country, according to estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, which uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau.

"Hispanic workers, especially those who are recently arrived, are a vital part of the construction industry," according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center.

The center said it sees no indication the role of foreign-born Hispanic workers in construction trades might diminish "in the near future."

Jobs in construction expanded by 559,000 workers in 2006, with about two-thirds, or 372,000, of the jobs going to Hispanics.

Illegal immigration contributed to the trend.

"In recent years, about two-thirds of the increase in the employment of recently arrived Latinos has been due to unauthorized migration," according to Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research at the Pew center.

Kochhar said the center could not provide data specifically for Colorado. But the report does show that most construction jobs for Hispanics are in the West and the South. Those two regions provided 86 percent of the jobs for construction workers last year.

Dick O'Brecht, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Colorado, said he suspects many Hispanics fill jobs involving stone masonry, bricklaying and cement finishing.

"The people in Mexico are very skilled at those trades," O'Brecht said. "They can step into this country and work in those areas without a lot of retraining."

Finding work

Hispanic workers landed two-thirds of new construction jobs in 2006 despite a yearlong slump in the housing market.

Hispanics, who held 25 percent of jobs in the construction sector in 2006, accounted for 66.5 percent of the increase in construction employment.

Almost one-third of recently arrived, foreign-born Hispanics worked in construction last year.Source: Pew Hispanic Center

kelleyj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5068