According to the experts, the U.S. economy began slipping into a recession in December 2007.

And then things got worse.

That’s common knowledge.

What may not be so well known is the surprising bit of good news that came to light in the last month of 2009 amid all of the mostly bad.

Turns out that even as the U.S. economy was contracting and consumers in general were cutting back, spending by Hispanics was shooting up by 6.4% — more than double the more modest 2.9% growth registered by non-Hispanics.

That’s from a report by the Latinum Network based on recent consumer spending figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So in what major categories did the growth of Hispanic consumer spending far exceed that of non-Hispanics?

Well, they included, among others:

• cereals
• computers
• education
• entertainment fees and admissions
• food away from home
• laundry and cleaning supplies
• major appliances
• vehicle finance and insurance
• women’s apparel

And listen to these specific examples.

From 2007 to 2008, the food industry grew by $40 billion. Thirty percent of this came from Hispanic consumers.

Hispanics also spent 58% more on education (compared to 9% for non-Hispanics) and 14% more on entertainment admissions and fees (compared to a decline of 7% for non-Hispanics).

All of which reminds me of the closing questions I posed in my very first post to this blog four months ago.

What if there were a market for your product that you haven’t even tapped into?
A market 45 million strong.
And growing.
A market with a buying power of almost $1 trillion.
And growing.
Would you be interested?

With Hispanics outspending non-Hispanics in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the question now is —

Can you afford not to be?

:: :: ::

Next time we’ll pick up where we left off with our previous post and talk about some effective ways to reach Hispanics.
And why they work.
Stay tuned.