Puerto Rico’s Economic Activity Index shows 6.4% YoY drop in December ’20
uerto Rico’s Economic Activity Index, released by the Economic Development Bank, revealed a 6.4% year-over-year drop in December 2020, marking the 10th consecutive decline after 20 months of year-on-year increases.
Agency President Luis Alemañy said the EAI reached a level of 115.7, which was essentially flat — showing a 0.3% increase — when compared to the prior month.
The crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic “prompted job losses and complicated situations in the health sector, which is why the government faces new challenges, including developing other strategies to recover economic activities, to invest in small and medium-sized businesses to re-claim lost jobs,” said Alemañy.
The analysis includes the months after the island experienced the consequences of a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that was followed by strong aftershocks.
“In accrued terms, the EAI’s average for the first semester of fiscal year 2021, between July and December, was 114.3,” he said. “This shows a decrease of 7.1% against fiscal year 2020.”
During December 2020, one of the EAI’s four components, cement sales, increased 28.4%, while non-agricultural salaried employment, electricity generation and gasoline consumption showed decreases of 7.9%, 3.7% and 9.2%, respectively, year-over-year.
Finally, when compared to November 2020, cement sales increased 10% and gasoline consumption 6.1%, while the remaining components decreased — non-agricultural salaried employment (-0.7%) and electricity generation (-1.1%).
