Discusses the status of rural labor and the performance of labor markets in Latin American agriculture. Points out the rapidly declining share of agriculture in the total labor force, weak capacity for creating nonagricultural employment, and rapidly increasing migration to towns. (JOW)

Census data reveal that during the period from 1990 to 1993, the number of hired farmworkers declined; farmworkers were likely to be young, male, and Hispanic, and to have only a limited education; over half of farmworkers had not graduated from high school; and farmworkers' earnings were significantly lower when compared to other workers.…