Puerto Rico’s COVID-pandemic employment decline has been less than that found in the United States.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey shows that Puerto Rico employment declined in January from January 2020 by 1.6%. This compares to a 6.3% drop in employment nationwide.
The BLS also publishes an employment survey of non-farm establishment called Current Employment Statistics. This showed Puerto Rico non-farm employment was down 4.1% in this period, compared to 6.3% nationally.
Current Employment Statistics also provides statistics for private sector non-farm employment, which shows Puerto Rico’s private sector employment declined 4.8% from January 2020. By comparison, U.S. private sector employment declined 6.4%.
January’s Puerto Rico statistics took different directions from December. The household survey (Current Population Statistics) was down 0.5%. However, the establishment survey showed total employment up 1.1% and private sector employment up 1.3%.
Over the last five years Puerto Rico’s household survey indicates that employment was down 4.2%. For the same period, the establishment survey for the island shows that total employment contracted 5.6% and private sector employment shrank 2.7%.
The Pueto Rico Oversight Board and Puerto Rico bond holders have pointed to Puerto Rico ecoomic data to try to butress their arguments for greater or lesser recoveries on the local bonds.
