Puerto Rico’s June economic activity declined 0.5% compared to May and 2.1% compared to a year earlier.
According to the report released by the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, all four of the economic activity index measurements declined in June from a year earlier.
Total non-farm payroll employment declined by 1.4%. Electric power generation declined by 4.2%. Preliminary figures showed gasoline consumption down by 10.6%. Finally, cement sales fell 2%.
The index figure for June was down about 23% from its peak in 2005. The GDB released the data Friday.
In contrast to the economic activity index’s decline, the unemployment rate plunged 0.9 percentage points in June from May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new rate, 10.1%, is 1.4 percentage points lower than in June 2016.
However, employment in June was down 0.4% from May and 0.2% from June 2016. The number of unemployed went down 9.6% from May and 13.7% from June 2016. All the employment statistics are seasonally adjusted.
One observer of these employment statistics said they were due to Puerto Ricans leaving the island.
