Puerto Rico labor market shows positive trends in 2Q22
The Puerto Rico Labor Department’s Industrial Composition by Municipality report for the second quarter of 2022, reflected an increase in employed people, total wages, average salary per worker, and establishments, when compared to the same period in 2021.
When comparing the most recent numbers against the first quarter of 2021, there was an increase of 2,235 establishments, 61,199 jobs, $852 million in total wages paid and $446 in average wages per worker, said Puerto Rico Labor Secretary Gabriel Maldonado
For the second quarter of 2022, the average employment in Puerto Rico was registered at 909,709, reflecting an increase of 47,140 jobs when compared to the data for the second quarter of 2021, which was recorded at 861,939.
The industries with the highest average employment were retail trade (128,868), public administration (117,299), health services and social assistance (95,879), administrative services and solid waste (81,446) and manufacturing (81,046).
The 10 municipalities that reflected the highest average employment are grouped as follows: San Juan (244,158), Bayamón (54,436), Guaynabo (54,229), Carolina (46,780), Ponce (46,098), Caguas (45,236), Mayagüez (30,195), Arecibo (21,505), Aguadilla (19,057) and Humacao (16,599).
The quarterly report also indicates that the total wages paid by the industries totaled more than $7 billion, which reflects an increase of $698 million when compared to the second quarter of 2021 ($6.3 billion).
The industries that registered the highest amounts of total salaries were public administration ($953 million); manufacturing ($814 million); health services and social assistance ($760 million); retail trade ($753 million); educational services ($610 million); and professional and technical services ($465 million).
When analyzing the average salary per worker, during the second quarter of 2022 the amount stood at $7,753, which represents an additional $386 when compared to the same quarter of the previous year ($7,367), the agency stated.
The industries with the highest median salaries were company management and business ($12,601); finance and insurance ($12,586); professional and technical services ($11,824); information ($11,025); electricity, water, and gas ($10,755); wholesale trade ($10,707); manufacturing ($10,047); and transportation and storage ($9,643).
Regarding the municipalities, the report states that the towns with the highest average quarterly wages per worker were Juncos ($13,632), Guaynabo ($9,644), San Juan ($9,510), Maunabo ($9,047) and Aguadilla ($8,978).
The report also reflected a total of 49,347 establishments or units for the second quarter of 2022, which represents an increase of 1,799 units compared to the same period in the previous year.
The industries that reported the largest number of establishments were: retail trade (9,045); health services and social assistance (7,764); professional and technical services (5,563); lodging and food services (5,158); other services except public administration (3,490) and construction (2,460).
In turn, the municipalities with the largest number of establishments were San Juan (11,720), Bayamón (2,986), Guaynabo (2,582), Caguas (2,336), Ponce (2,304), Carolina (2,011) and Mayagüez (1,555).
