Puerto Rico reported 6% jobless rate in Jan. ’23, down vs. Jan. ’22
Puerto Rico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 6% during the month of January 2023, reflecting a decrease of 0.5 percentage points when compared to the same month in 2022, according to data released by the Puerto Rico Department of Labor.
The most recent statistic remained steady when compared to December 2022, the agency stated.
The seasonally unadjusted labor participation rate during January 2023 was estimated at 44.4%, for a decrease of 0.3 percentage point compared to December 2022 (44.7%).
When compared to January 2022 (44%), there was an increase of 0.4 percentage points in the indicator. When compared with January 2021, the increase is four percentage points, Labor Secretary Gabriel Maldonado said.
On the other hand, in January 2023 the seasonally adjusted estimate of the worker group was 1,198,000 people, meaning an increase of 9,000 people, when compared to December 2022 (1,189,000).
The comparison with January 2022 (1,215,000) showed a reduction of 17,000 people in the working group, while when compared to January 2021 (1,118,000), there was an increase of 80,000 people.
Total employment in Puerto Rico for January 2023, seasonally adjusted, was 1,126,000. This data represents 9,000 more people when compared to December 2022 (1,117,000).
Compared to January 2022 (1,137,000), there was a decrease of 11,000 workers, but when compared to January 2021 (1,018,000), the employment level registered an increase of 108,000 employed people.
Regarding the number of unemployed people, seasonally adjusted, in January 2023, 72,000 individuals were registered, the same number as in December 2022. This number represents a decrease of 6,000 people, when compared to January 2022 (78,000) and 28,000 when contrasting with January 2021 (100,000).
Maldonado also discussed the figures from the Non-Agricultural Salaried Employment publication for January 2023.
The seasonally adjusted data stood at 939,500. When comparing with December 2022 (934,300), salaried employment reflected an increase of 5,200 employees. When compared with January 2022 (911,800), the increase is 27,700, while when contrasting with January 2021 (850,900), the increase is 88,600.
According to the data included in an agency report drafted jointly with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics all economic sectors on the island registered monthly increases, except the government, which had a reduction, and the information sector, which showed no changes.
When making the year-on-year comparison, all sectors increased their level of employment, except information, which had no changes.
“We started 2023 with the same positive trend in our labor market that we saw last year. These new reports also contemplate the annual review of data carried out by the DTRH together with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the federal Department of Labor and the estimates and seasonal adjustments for the months of September 2022 onward, which do not they had been able to be made due to the passage of Hurricane Fiona,” he said.
“We continue to seek to bring more people to the labor market, out of a universe of 1.5 million individuals who, for some reason, are not included. We have enormous potential in women, people with functional diversity, ex-convicts, citizens who receive government benefits, young people, and older adults,” Maldonado said.
