The profile of a Mexican-born immigrant to the US...

Here are some of the more interesting findings pertaining to Mexican-born immigrants contained in the newly released Pew Hispanic Center study. The study is at: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/04/29/hispanic-nativity-shift/

Between 2000 and 2012, the foreign-born population in the US grew 30.9%. The Mexican-born population grew less rapidly (25.4%), reducing the Mexican-born share of the foreign-born population from 29.4% to 28.2% of the total.

Over a third (34.3%) of the 11.5 million Hispanics living in the US who were born in Mexico arrived in the US before 1990. Another 31.1% came to the US between 1990 and 1999. Not quite a quarter (23.1%) arrived between 2000 and 2005. Only 11.5% have come since 2006.

In households in which languages other than English are spoken at home, nearly 3/4 (72%) of Mexican-born immigrants to the US who are 18 or older said they spoke English "less than very well". The opposite was true for Mexican-born immigrants under 18: 69% spoke English very well.

The educational profile of people born in Mexico living in the US is very different from that of other ethnic groups. Only 17.8% of those 25 years of age or older had completed more than high school. Only the Central American-born population had similarly low levels of educational attainment. The high school drop out rate of Mexican-born foreigners living in the US fell from 42.3% in 2000 to 13.3% in 2012 but, along with Central Americans, remained the highest of any foreign-born group. College enrollment rose from 7.4% in 2000 to 18.0% in 2012; once again, the Mexican-born foreign population rated lowest on the measure.

Income levels reflected the lack of educational achievements: median personal earnings for Mexican-born foreigners in 2012 were US$20,000 while median household income was $35,000, the lowest of any group. Nearly 3/5 (57.0%) of Mexican-born foreigners were in the first and second quintiles of the income distribution. Only 20.7% were in the top two quintiles (the fourth and fifth). Nearly three of every ten (27.8%) of Mexican born foreigners living in the US in 2012 were living in poverty.

What's caused Mexican stock prices to pick up?

Here's a very interesting graph from CNNMoney, courtesy of EPFR Global. For the first week this year, the end of the first quarter saw investors put money into emerging market stock funds. Do you think it's coincidental that Mexico's stock index, the IPC, picked up 1.8% in dollars between March 28 and April 4 (+1.4% in pesos)? In that same week, the Dow rose 0.6%, the S&P 500, 0.4%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.7%. That the IPC outperformed the US indices has been a very rare occurrence this year.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/14/investing/emerging-markets/index.html?iid=HP_LN

Security in Mexico...

INEGI's third security survey doesn't make for happy reading. Judging by its results, Mexicans don't feel very safe. Here are some of the salient findings:

--Nearly 3 of every 4 Mexicans surveyed (72.4%) feel that it's not safe to live in their city.
--Almost 2/3 of people surveyed (64.9%) think the security situation will be equally bad or worse a year from now.
--Two out of every three people surveyed have seen or heard or a robbery in their neighborhood in the last three months.
--Vandalism is a fact of life: 56.5% of respondents reported seeing or hearing of acts of vandalism in their homes or businesses in the last three months.
--Two-fifths of respondents saw or heard of the sale or use of drugs in their neighborhood in the last three months.
--Gangs are another unpleasant reality for many Mexicans: a third of respondents reported seeing or hearing about gangs in their neighborhood in the last three months.
--A quarter reported gunshots in their neighborhoods in the last three months.
--People have changed their habits: 65% said they've changed their habits in terms of carrying valuable objects. Strolling around their home after 8:00 PM is something that half of respondents have re-thought. Nearly half (47.6%) have re-thought letting their underage children go outside to play.
--Seven out of ten people surveyed don't think much of the efficacy of state and local police: 28.1% said the police were not effective (28.1%) while 42.1% thought they were a "little bit effective".

Unemployment in the US...

The US unemployment rate is down to 6.7%. That's the good news. The bad news is that the unemployment rate in the US would be 12.2% if the labor force participation rate were kept steady at 66%. No wonder Fed Chair Yellen is going to such lengths to emphasize that investors shouldn't expect the Fed to start increasing the Fed Funds rate when the unemployment rate hits 6.5%.