¿Do you understand what this means? If your answer to “Do you understand what this means?” is “no,” then your resume, similar to that of many other Americans who don't speak Spanish, has simply become less competitive. In times of economic hardship, where the United States has “an unemployment rate above 7.8%,” the ability to stand out in the job market is non-negotiable (Scherer). With an exponential increase in the Latino population, the American workforce has been profoundly impacted. While you can be certain that the ability to speak English in America, combined with your education and work experience, will be enough to stand you out in the job market, this essay will argue that a monoglot speaker of English is much less marketable than one who is bilingual in English and Spanish. From a sales clerk in Littlerock, Arkansas, to a high-profile lawyer in Los Angeles, California, Americans can see the real need to learn Spanish, a language spoken by more than 50 million people nationwide, approximately 16 % of US population (As). Although English is the official language of the United States, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the country. With such a large number of Spanish-speaking residents, the growing Latino population is having a major impact on the American workforce. Many Latinos are known to migrate to similar areas in the United States. Cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Houston all have more than a million Latino residents in each city (New). Many of these Latinos are new immigrants to the United States, and Spanish is their primary language. As these Latinos live alongside many other Spanish-speaking civilians, the need to learn the English language... at the heart of the paper... is bilingualism in the workplace." Bilingual Jobs and Careers for Latinos - EmpleosCB.com - Home. Web. December 9, 2011.eID=635>.Scherer, Ron. "Fed's Ben Bernanke 'dissatisfied' with economy, unemployment rate." Christian Science Monitor November 2, 2011: N.PAG Web. November 20, 2011. " The history and origin of the Latin language." Find science and technology articles, training lesson plans, tech tips, hardware and software reviews, news and more on Bright Hub Web. Vázquez, R. Fernando and C. Keith Stalnakar. “Latino Workers in Construction. (Cover article)." Academic research completed. 2011.