Puerto Rico Manufacturing Improves

Two statistical measures of Puerto Rico manufacturing have shown improvements in recent months.

The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics' purchasing manufacturing index indicated a third consecutive month of expansion. The index measures the conditions and expectations of manufacturing plant managers.

The Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company computes an Index of Coincident Manufacturing Indicators that showed, in its most recent report, a 0.3% improvement from the previous month. PRIDCO's Strategic Planning and Economics Office created this composite index experimentally, PRIDCO said in a statement.

On Dec. 9 the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank released the economic activity index readings for September and October, showing a 1.1% improvement in September and 0.6% increase in October.

However, the island's unemployment rate has steadily increased from June to October. In October it was at 14.7%, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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