-- by David Hendricks, San Antonio Express-News:

Hispanic consumers and their increasing purchasing power are the growth engine for the U.S. economy, Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the Washington-based U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday in San Antonio.

“This is a market that is growing faster than anyone anticipated,” Palomarez told nearly 100 people attending a luncheon of the American Marketing Association's San Antonio chapter.

Hispanics now make up 15 percent of the U.S. population, but their household incomes are rising five times faster than the general population, said Palomarez, a former San Antonio resident and a Rio Grande Valley native.

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