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Friday, January 6, 2006

Latinos are foundation of N.C. construction biz
By Marta Hummel

It would be nearly impossible to find a construction site in the Triad where Spanish is not spoken. On some job sites, it might be the only language spoken.

A report released earlier this week by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill puts the number of Latinos working in the state’s construction industry at about 33 percent. But Triad industry observers disagree, saying the percentage of Hispanic construction workers is much higher and could even be double the study’s estimate.

From 1995 to 2005, the state’s construction industry hired 111,630 Latino workers â€â€