Washington (AP Those new hotels and casinos that sprouted up in Nevadaѡs Clark County this past decade attracted more than just gamblers anxious to try their luck under the bright lights of Las Vegas.
The boom also brought an influx of Asians and Hispanics eager to fill new construction and service-industry jobs, a development that helped make Nevada the fastest-growing state in the l990s.
New Census Bureau estimates being released Wednesday show that increases in the nationss two fastest-growing minority populations are also helping to spark gains elsewhere.
Between July l, l990 and July l, l999, the nations Asian and Pacific Islander population grew 43 percent to l0.8 million, and the Hispanic population grew 38.8 percent to 3l.3 million, the Census estimates show. These are the last such estimates to be released before detailed Census 2000 results come out next year.
California, Texas and New York-- the three most populous states-- continue to have the highest numbers of minorities, but Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina experienced the biggest percent increases, Census analyst Larry Sink said.
Its largely a condition of jobs and the network of people they know there, said John Haaga of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based research group. Thats the traditional American experience.
Nationally, the countrys white population increased 7.3 percent between l990 and l999 to 224.6 million. Blacks remained the countrys largest minority group, experiencing a l3.8 percent spike during the same period to 34.8 million, while the American Indian and Alaska Native population increased l5.5 percent ot 2.3 million.