The Puerto Rico Labor Department said Friday that the island’s unemployment rate for the month of July clocked in at 16.3 percent, reflecting a year-over-year drop of 0.6 percentage points, but a 1.1 percentage point increase when compared to June.
The island’s persistently high unemployment rate dropped slightly to 16.2 percent in April, representing a 0.7 percentage point reduction from the 16.9 percent rate on record for the same month last year. When compared to March 2010, the current rate is also down, by 0.6 percentage points, Labor Department statistics released Thursday revealed.
Puerto Rico’s workforce fell to 41.4 percent in January 2011, representing the lowest participation rate recorded for the month of January since 1983, when the number reached 40.7 percent, the Labor Department informed Friday.
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