The Hispanic population in North Carolina and in the United States continued to climb last year, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationally, the Hispanic population -- the country's largest minority group -- reached 45.5 million on July 1, a 1.4 million bump from the previous year.

In North Carolina, an additional 46,266 Hispanics called the state home in the 12 months preceding July 1, fueling an increase estimated at 7.8 percent in the state's Hispanic population. The 640,000 Hispanic residents accounted for in the census figures make up North Carolina's second-largest minority group, behind more than 2 million blacks.

Much of the continued growth in the state's Hispanic population, according to the census figures, can be attributed to women. More than 275,000 Hispanic women resided in North Carolina as of July 1, an 82.3 percent increase since April 2000.

Stephen C. Lilley, the associate head of N.C. State University's sociology and anthropology departments, said the population growth reflected in the census figures indicate that North Carolina remained a popular and inviting destination for Hispanic arrivals from other states and other countries.

"North Carolina by and large is an accommodating state in terms of new immigrants ... " Lilley said.

However, with construction slowing, increased enforcement of immigration laws and the weakening of the U.S. dollar, academics who study North Carolina's Hispanic population said it is unclear whether this demographic surge will continue.

Emilio Parrado, a Duke associate professor of sociology who has worked with Durham's Latino communities, said it's difficult to assess whether immigrants are still coming at the previous pace.

"These are estimates ... and it's not very clear exactly what's going on," Parrado said of the census figures.

(Compiled by Lorenzo Perez and staff researcher Paulette Stiles.)