LOS ANGELES - Head to Fourth Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles and you'll see signs of a labor market on the mend.
At a Continental Currency Services Inc. branch, a check-cashing and money-transfer business, housekeeper Maria Guadalupe Gutierrez waited patiently in line on a recent afternoon to wire $200 to her mother in Chiapas, Mexico.
Gutierrez used to send more before the economy tanked and clients stopped having their houses cleaned as frequently. But things have picked up lately, and she is getting more calls.
"I hope it keeps getting better," said Gutierrez, 38, before rushing off to finish errands downtown.
Ending a three-year slump, remittances to Mexico are finally on the upswing, thanks to an improving U.S. job market. Analysts expect that money sent home last year by Mexicans living abroad, most of them residing in the United States, will top $23 billion when Mexico's central bank releases annual figures this month. Although still below the peak of $26 billion in 2007, that would be a solid 8 percent increase over 2010.
People are also reading…
Money transfer giant Western Union Co., whose revenue sagged during the recession, saw its remittance business strengthen in 2011. The Colorado company reported a 5 percent increase in revenue from its Mexico business in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2010. Its stock price is up more than 13 percent over the last three months.
The figures underscore falling unemployment rates in California and nationwide, where sectors such as construction, manufacturing, restaurants and hotels that employ large numbers of Latino immigrants are creating jobs.
"People are working more," said Jesus Hernandez, manager of the downtown Continental Currency branch, as he and another teller hustled through a line of 12 people. Money "wires are coming back up."
The uptick is also good news for Mexico. Remittances are the nation's second-largest source of foreign exchange, behind petroleum sales. And they're a lifeline for millions of low-income Mexicans who use the funds for basics.
Remittances are also crucial for infrastructure projects in hardscrabble rural areas of Mexico. Most state governments there have a "Three for One" program in which emigres' contributions are matched by local, state and federal governments to pay for schools, clinics and other public works projects. When remittances plunged, many projects were suspended or delayed.
"The rise in remittances will mean the Mexican economy will grow compared to the year before," said Alfredo Coutino, Latin America director for Moody's Analytics. "Remittances are very important for the Mexican economy."
Conversely, he said, if the U.S. recovery slows, it could derail Mexico's progress.
Remittances to Mexico soared in the early 2000s as immigrants found abundant work swinging hammers and hanging drywall during the U.S. housing boom. At the peak, 1 in 5 Latino immigrants in the U.S. was employed in the building trades, according to some estimates.
But the housing bust and recession sent remittances tumbling after millions of jobs vanished. A crackdown on illegal immigrants has also taken a toll.
Tough new state laws aimed at undocumented residents in Alabama, Arizona and other states have forced some migrants to abandon their jobs. Others have changed their financial habits, holding on to cash in the event they're forced to relocate, experts said.
