Total employment for Puerto Rico in July 2022 reached 1,090,000,000. This in comparison to July 2021’s total employment, shows an increment of 36,000 or 3.42%. However, when compared to June 2022’s total employment, which was at 1,108,000, a decrease of 18,000 or 1.63%.
The current participation rate is at 42.2%. This has been gradually decreasing in the past few months. However, positively speaking, the current unemployment rate is at 5.7% which is the smallest unemployment registered in Puerto Rico in quite some years.
| Employment (thousands) | March 2020 | July 2021 | July 2022 | Percentage Change |
| Non-Farm Payroll | 887.5 | 871.2 | 911.0 | 0.12% |
| Construction | 27.7 | 28.1 | 31.4 | 3.98% |
| Manufacturing | 76 | 77.1 | 83.1 | 1.40% |
| Retail Sales | 124.9 | 127.0 | 131.0 | 0.81% |
| Professional and Business Services | 124.4 | 130.0 | 138.2 | 0.82% |
| Finance | 45.1 | 43.7 | 46.4 | 2.43% |
| Education | 33.2 | 25.7 | 30.6 | 4.63% |
| Health Services | 85.9 | 84.6 | 86.2 | 1.20% |
| Leisure and Hospitality | 81.4 | 78.5 | 89.4 | 1.45% |
| Government | 203.5 | 192.4 | 188.9 | 0.51% |
Source: Puerto Rico Labor Department
As for non–farm payroll in Puerto Rico for July 2022 reached 911,000. This reflects an increase of 0.12% or 39,800 when compared to July 2021. However, compared to the previous month of June 2022 there is a reflected decrease of 2,300 or 5.78%.
When comparing to the previous year, in July 2021, it is important to show that the only category that saw a decrease in year-over-year changes was the Government. However, for the rest of the industries we see increases in their employment numbers. Especially for Construction (3.98%), Manufacturing (1.40%), Professional and Business Services (2.43%), and Education (4.63%).
As for month-over-month comparison, while most major categories saw decreases in their employment numbers, some such as Leisure and Hospitality, Finance, and Construction saw an increase of 3.11%, 1.31%, and 1.29% respectively speaking. On another hand, categories such as Education, Professional and Business Services, and Retail Services saw a substantial decrease in employment rates of 4.38%, 2.12%, and 1.06% respectively, when comparing July 2022 to July 2021.
Taking into account the recognition of the current economic recession, it is worth keeping an eye out for changes to come in the following months, given that, should employment numbers continue to decline, serious social and economic implications are headed our way.
