P.R. unemployment remains flat in November
Labor Department heaquarters in Hato Rey. (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual)
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate remained flat in November, compared to the same month in 2009 and the month of October, Labor Department statistics released Friday showed.
The agency’s report showed that the November unemployment rate stood at 15.4 percent, 0.4 percentage points lower than the 15.8 percent reported in October. The current figure is also 0.1 percentage point below the 15.5 percent unemployment rate reported for November 2009.
The number of unemployed people reached 200,000 last month, or 5,000 less than the 205,000 out-of-work individuals on record for October 2010 and November 2009.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is overwhelmingly higher than the average on the U.S. mainland, which in November reached 9.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The island is the U.S. jurisdiction with the highest level of unemployment, according to agency data, which also shows a different jobless count for Puerto Rico. The BLS statistics put the local unemployment rate for November at 15.8 percent, identical to the rate for the same month a year ago.
In terms of the island’s workforce, the local Labor Department said in November 2010, there were 1,097,000 people employed, or 3,000 more than reported the prior month.
