Puerto Rico’s economy has been showing signs of strength in the last few months with the unemployment rate reaching a record low in February.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the rate slipped to 6.8% in the month, down from 7.1% a month earlier. The February rate is the lowest on the island since the federal government started to collect the data in the 1930s.
The bureau’s household survey showed February employment was up 0.8% from January, 9.6% since February 2021, and 9.7% from February 2012.
Puerto Rico bondholders and potential
The economy will also affect
The bureau also publishes an employment survey of non-farm employers, which showed February non-farm employment was up 5.5% from February 2021 but down 3.3% from February 2012.
Total non-farm private sector employment in February was up 7.4% from February 2021 and up 4.9% from February 2012. The employer survey excludes self-employment and all the employment statistics are seasonally adjusted.
“The employment figures show a healthy economy, with moderate job growth,” said Advantage Business Consulting President Vicente Feliciano. “Particularly important is that the growth in jobs is in the private sector, while government jobs are staying stable around 194,000.”
The economic activity index, another primary month-to-month reading of Puerto Rico’s economy, is also up. The latest reading for December was up 0.2% from November and up 3.8% from a year earlier. December’s reading was the sixth straight month it was up on a month-to-month basis and the 10th straight month on a year-over-year basis.
Over the long-term this measurement still shows economic decline, with the December reading down about 9.3% from December 2011.
