The number of jobs for December 2022 equaled 927,100 employees. The number of jobs observed is an increase of 35,400 employees (4%) compared to December 2021, although it still represents a reduction of 1,500 jobs (0.2%) compared to the previous month of November 2022.
The workforce increased to 1,233,000 individuals by December 2022, an increase of about 17,000 individuals (1.4%) compared to November 2022 but a decrease of 7,000 individuals (0.6%) compared to December 2021.
The unemployment rate improved to 6% in December 2022, this is a reduction of 0.2% compared to November 2022 and a reduction of 0.7% compared to December 2021. Additionally, the participation rate increased to 45.1% in December 2022, 1.6% higher than in November 2022 and 0.4% lower than in December 2021.
With regards to the industrial groups, for December 2022 all sectors were maintained or decreased compared to November 2022. Compared to December 2021, the values of the subsequent year were consistently higher, the industrial groups experiencing the number of job creation greater than 5,000 jobs were: Leisure and Hospitality; Professional and Business Services; Trade, Transportation & Utilities; and Manufacturing.
In an annual context, the year 2022 showed great progress in the labor market, and even reaching better values than those obtained before the pandemic in 2019.
The number of non-farm employments reached 916,600 jobs by 2022, the highest value since 2014 with 909,300 non-farm employments. Compared to 2021, this represents an increase of 40,200 employments (4.6%), and an increase of 36,100 employments (4.1%) when compared to 2019.
The workforce reached 1,198,000 individuals by 2022, the largest number since 2012 when there were some 1,940,000 individuals in the workforce. The workforce of 2022 when compared to 2021 shows an increase of 26,000 individuals (2.2%), compared to 2019 the workforce increased by some 107,000 individuals (9.8%).
The unemployment rate equaled 6% for 2022, this historically represents the lowest unemployment rate that has been experienced in Puerto Rico. Compared to 2021 the unemployment rate fell by 1.9%, compared to 2019 this represented a further reduction of 2.3%.
The participation rate for 2022 increased to 43.8%, the best participation rate achieved since 2010 when it was 43.5%. When compared to the 2021 participation rate, this represents an increase of 1.1%, an increase of 2.9% compared to 2019.
Regarding the industrial groups, for December 2022 all industrial groups maintained or decreased the number of employments compared to November 2022. Compared to December 2021, the values of the subsequent year were consistently higher. The industrial groups experiencing an employment creation greater than 5,000 employments were: Leisure and Hospitality; Professional and Business Services; Trade, Transportation & Utilities; and Manufacturing.
