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Hispanics are poorer—much poorer—thanks in part to the recession that took jobs and homes, according to a Pew Hispanic poll. The study, which analyzed 2010 census numbers, reveals that the median wealth of Latino households plummeted 66 percent from 2005 to 2009, the biggest drop of any racial or ethnic group. Asians’ dropped 54 percent and African Americans’ wealth dropped by 53 percent. Whites’ wealth fell by just 16 percent. The precipitous declines constitute the biggest wealth disparities recorded since the Census Bureau began collecting the figures 25 years ago. The biggest reason for the Hispanic figures: the housing market bust, in which many Latinos, whose median net worth was due to home equity in 2005 by almost two thirds, lost their homes. READ MORE