The number of employed people increased to 1,137,000.
Puerto Rico’s labor force had 25,000 fewer members in December, when compared to the same month in 2013, which could account for the lower unemployment rate announced by the Labor Department Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday awards exceeding a combined $3 million for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to improve unemployment insurance programs.
The Puerto Rico government released key economic statistics late Friday that reflected a slide in the Economic Activity Index of 2.4 percent year-over-year in February, as well as put the island’s jobless rate at 15 percent that month.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate reached 15.2 percent in January, up slightly from the 14.6 percent on record for the same month in 2013, but down marginally from the 15.4 percent the Department of Labor and Human Resources confirmed for December 2013.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate jumped by a full percentage point year-over-year in December, when it reached 15.4 percent, Puerto Rico Labor Department statistics revealed Tuesday.
Puerto Rico’s labor market is at a crossroad, with thousands of productive workers fleeing to the U.S. mainland in search of professional opportunities that may not be available locally.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate dropped to 13.7 percent in April, reaching the lowest level since 2008. However, Labor Department data released Thursday also shows that the island’s labor force decreased by 10,000 to 1.1 million last month, when compared to the prior month and by 31,000 year-over-year.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate showed a slight drop in February, settling at 14.5 percent, or 0.1 percentage points below the 14.6 percent the Labor Department reported for January.
Puerto Rico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January was 14.6 percent, representing a drop of 0.7 percentage points when compared to the same month last year, when it stood at 15.3 percent, Labor Secretary-designate Vance Thomas said Monday.
One of the greatest challenges economists are having during this downturn is that it is not a “traditional boom-bust cycle,” economist Heidie Calero said in the May edition of the “Puerto Rico Economic Pulse” monthly bulletin published by her firm H. Calero Consulting.
Labor Department statistics released over the weekend put Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate at 15 percent for the month of February, reflecting a 0.1 percentage point drop in comparison to the prior month’s level and a 1.2 percentage drop decrease from the 16.2 percent rate on record for February 2011.
Puerto Rico’s out-of-work force averaged 16.1 percent during calendar year 2010, representing the highest rate since 1993, when the average was 17 percent, the Department of Labor and Human Resources informed Friday.
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