Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate dropped to 13.7 percent in April, reaching the lowest level since 2008. However, Labor Department data released Thursday also shows that the island’s labor force decreased by 10,000 to 1.1 million last month, when compared to the prior month and by 31,000 year-over-year.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate showed a slight drop in February, settling at 14.5 percent, or 0.1 percentage points below the 14.6 percent the Labor Department reported for January.
The Puerto Rico Labor Department is the island’s largest employment agency, but generally speaking, that is not something it is known for. For that reason, Labor Secretary-designate Vance Thomas will be placing special emphasis on the service, which last year had a listing of nearly 25,000 jobs available to fill.
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