http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?secti ... id=3778270

ASSOCIATED PRESS


(01/03/06 -- RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK) - A study designed to gauge the economic impact of the Latino population in North Carolina suggests Hispanic immigration created work but caused a drain on wages.

The study says low-wage Hispanic workers depressed wages in North Carolina by nearly $2 billion in 2004. However, the study also says their presence also created nearly 90,000 jobs for others.

It's billed as the first investigation of Latino economic impact in a state with one of the country's fastest-growing populations.

The study by members of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise says Hispanic residents filled about a third of the new jobs created in North Carolina in the last decade and make up about 30 percent of the jobs in the construction industry.

It's also estimated that there are about 601,000 Hispanics living in the state, with about 45 percent lacking legal status in the United States.