Puerto Rico's economic activity index showed that the island's economy took a step backward in November.
In November the index fell 1.3% from October and 0.5% from November 2014. The month-to-month fall was the sharpest index movement month-to-month in more than five years.
The fall came when two out of three months had shown month-to-month increases and the third was steady and when there had been two consecutive months of positive year-to-year growth.
The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico creates the index by examining four economic indicators. In November three out of four indicators were down on a year-to-year basis.
Gasoline consumption had the biggest fall, declining 8.8%. Cement sales were down 2.5%. Electric power consumption decreased 0.5%.
By contrast, total non-farm payroll employment increased 0.5% from a year earlier.
At 126.1 the index is at the lowest level since 1994.
Puerto Rico's employment picture has been growing brighter. In November the total number employed increased for the fifth consecutive month month-to-month, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total number of employed has gone up on a year-over-year basis for 11 of the last 12 months.
