Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Latino voters ranked the economy as the top issue in their vote. Meanwhile, Donald Trump made improving economic conditions a central part of his campaign message.
But nearly a year into Trump’s second term, most Latinos rate the economy negatively. And 61% say that Trump’s policies have made the economy worse. Another 22% say his policies haven’t had much effect, while a smaller share say they’ve made the economy better (15%).
These findings come from a nationally representative, bilingual Pew Research Center survey that included 629 U.S. Latino adults, conducted Sept. 22-28, 2025.
This is the fourth of six detailed sections in a report on Latinos’ views of Trump’s second administration and their situation in the country. For Latinos’ views of their personal financial situation, visit Chapter 3. For a summary of the report’s findings, visit the overview.
Most Latinos rate the economy negatively and don’t think it will improve
As of September 2025, 78% of Hispanic adults say economic conditions today are only fair or poor, while 22% say conditions are excellent or good. Looking forward, views on the future of the economy also lean more negative than positive. About half (49%) say that in the next year, they expect economic conditions to worsen, while smaller shares think it’ll improve (28%) or stay the same (23%).
Latino Republicans and Republican-leaning independents hold very different views on the economy than Democrats and Democratic leaners – and they have shifted in the last year.
Some 40% of Hispanic Republicans rate the economy positively, and 56% think it will improve in the next year – up considerably from 2024.
Among Hispanic Democrats, views have shifted in the opposite direction. Some 11% each rate the economy positively and think it will improve, down from 2024.
These differences among Latino partisans parallel differences among partisans overall in the U.S. Among all Republicans, views have grown more optimistic since last year on both current and future economic conditions. Among all Democrats, views have grown more pessimistic.
Most Hispanics continue to be concerned about the price of food, goods and housing
The September survey asked Latinos about a range of economic issues such as consumer prices, the state of the job market and how the stock market is doing.
About two-thirds of Latinos say they’re very concerned about the price of food and consumer goods (67%) and the cost of housing (65%). These continue to be the issues that most Latinos have been concerned about since last year.
Roughly half also say they’re worried about the price of gas and energy (53%) and people who want to work being unable to find jobs (50%).
On each of these issues, Latino Democrats are more likely than Latino Republicans to express concern. For example, 80% of Latino Democrats are very concerned about the price of food and consumer goods, compared with roughly half of Latino Republicans.
