Latino Labor: Mixed Bag Work Force

Few groups played as important a role in the recovery of New Orleans as the Hispanic work force that arrived in the city just weeks after Hurricane Katrina, hammers and sleeping bags in hand, eager to take advantage of the post-storm construction boom.

But now that the national economy is

Not likely, said Jon Luther, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans.

The New Orleans construction industry may not be booming like it was in the year after Katrina, but it also isn't in a freefall like the rest of the country.

"The Hispanic workers aren't leaving anytime soon because as slow as someone might think it is here, it's just gruesome out there in the rest of the country," Luther said.

Two weeks ago, Luther attended a conference in Sanibel, Fla., that brought together the heads of local and state homebuilders associations from throughout the country. Colleagues from California, Florida, Arizona and Minnesota said their membership was down 70 percent.