Employment in San Juan up 4.7% Y-O-Y in December
Employment in Puerto Rico’s only large municipality, San Juan, increased by 4.7% from December 2021 to December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirmed.
Large counties and county-equivalent entities, like municipalities in Puerto Rico, are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2021.
BLS Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley said in December 2022 that San Juan’s employment level of 263,000 accounted for 27% of total employment in the commonwealth.
National employment increased 2.6% over the year, with 325 of the 355 largest U.S. counties reporting gains. Midland, Texas, had the largest over-the-year growth in employment with a 7.9% increase. Elkhart and Hendricks, Indiana, experienced the highest over-the-year percentage decline in employment, each losing 1.7%.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the average weekly wage in San Juan was $805, a 3.9-percent increase over the year. In the United States, the average weekly wage decreased by 2.3% to $1,385. Of the 355 largest counties in the United States, 240 had over-the-year wage decreases. San Francisco had the largest percentage wage decrease (-22.6%), while Midland, Texas, had the largest wage increase (+6.1%).
Employment and wage levels (excluding over-the-year changes) are also available for the 77 municipalities in Puerto Rico with employment figures under 75,000. All 77 municipalities had wages below the national average of $1,385 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Juncos, located on the eastern part of the island, had the highest average weekly wage at $930. On the other hand, eight municipalities had average weekly wages under $450, with the lowest wages reported in Guánica ($381) and Las Marías ($386).
