WASHINGTON, Aug 27, (AP):  Latinas contributed $1.3 trillion to the US gross domestic product in 2021, up from $661 billion in 2010 and at a growth rate nearly triple that of non-Latinos during the same time period, according to a new report funded by Bank of America and conducted by professors at California Lutheran University and UCLA.

The report was compiled using publicly available economic and demographic data from US agencies and shows "that Latinas are drivers of economic vitality in the United States, giving life to the U.S. economy,” said economist Matthew Fienup, one of the study's authors and executive director of California Lutheran University's Center for Economic Research & Forecasting during a Zoom briefing presenting the findings on Monday.

"Latinas outpace their gender and ethnic peers in key economic measures, including record levels of Latina workforce participation, educational attainment, and income growth,” he added in a press release. The $1.3 trillion economic contribution by Latinas is about as much as the GDP of Florida, and only surpassed by California, Texas and New York, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Fienup says that Latinas' increased economic output and labor force growth - nine times faster than that of non-Latinos - is translating to higher earnings and economic mobility for Latinas. "We are moving in the right direction. And that wage gap is closing, despite Latinas facing certain disadvantages relative to non-Latinos in the United States,” Fienup said, adding that Latinas are outpacing other groups in investments toward starting businesses and homeownership, despite having less access to capital.