Puerto Rico's unemployment rate declined by four tenths of a percentage point to 13.7% in December.
December's rate was still above July's 13.1% rate, the lowest rate the commonwealth experienced since the Great Recession, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate fell from 15.5% a year earlier and the Great Recession peak of 16.9% in May 2010.
All the rates are seasonally adjusted.
The bureau previously reported that the commonwealth's total employment declined for 26 consecutive months on a month-to-month basis to September from July 2012. On Tuesday the bureau reported a figure for December higher than that for November, meaning that since September employment has gone up for three consecutive months. Employment was up 0.6% to December from September.
Along with reporting the above data based on a household survey, the bureau has also released its establishment survey data for December.
After 13 consecutive months of year-over-year increases the establishment survey of private sector employers showed a year-over-year decline in December. December's total was down 0.4% from December 2013. The December 2014 figure is preliminary and the bureau may revise it in February.
Advantage Business Consulting President Vicente Feliciano earlier this year said year-over-year gains in private sector employment, as found in the bureau's employer survey, were signs of a strengthening Puerto Rico economy.
The economic activity index from the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico has shown three consecutive month-to-month increases to November. The GDB hasn't yet released December's figure.
