Puerto Rico's total employment declined 0.7% in June from May on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The unemployment rate increased to 12.6% in June from 12.4% in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said July 21. The June rate was lower than the 13.5% rate a year earlier.
Total employment has risen on a year-over-year basis for five straight months. It is now 0.5% above the level of June 2014. However, this same seasonally adjusted data has been down on a month-over-month basis for three consecutive months.
These figures are from the Bureaus household survey, based on a survey of people who live in Puerto Rico. The bureau's establishment survey, based on a survey of nonagricultural employers, tells a similar tale.
The establishment survey showed that total nonfarm employment increased 0.4% in June from a year earlier while total nonfarm private sector employment was unchanged.
