Puerto Rico Unemplyment by the Numbers

Bureau of Labor Statistics From 2002 to 2012. A decade of double digit unemployment.

It's hard to fathom the weakness of an economy that would sustain a whole decade of greater than ten percent unemployment. 

What a crippling anchor for any economy to bear!  Just think of the lost productivity and GDP, it is crushing to imagine.

Yet, we wrestle (luchar) on.  It's been that way for so long, that it is hard to remember it ever being any different. 

This spreadsheet is courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, available here.

Analysis

So you say to your self, but surely Puerto Rico has had better times?  Sadly, since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking and sharing unemployment in 1976, Puerto Rico has never had less than 10% unemployment. That's 36 years of double digit unemployment!


There are a lot of commentary, notes, and rationalizations for these high unemployment figures, but I'm not going to get into them.  I'd like you to just think about the systemic unemployment is in Puerto Rico that consistently leaves more than 10% of the workforce without a job. Unfortunately, unemployment is on the rise again.

More Puerto Rico Numbers

The 2010 Puerto Rico Census numbers are available on the Census web site, but I thought I would share them with you, there's some interesting stuff in there too.

• Population: 3,725,789
• Male: 1,785,171
• Female: 1,940,618
• Population By Age
• Under 18: 903,295
• 18-20: 114,295
  
• 20-24: 260,850
• 25-34: 492,332
• 35-49: 713,514
• 50-64: 681,505
• 65 and over: 541,998
• Population By Race
• White: 2,825,100
  
• African-American: 461,498
• Other: 316,945

Housing Status

• Total households: 1,636,946
• Occupied: 1,376,531
• Vacant: 260,415

Businesses

• Number of Establishments: 45,549
• Total annual payroll: $16,241,593,000
• Total Employees: 702,603
• Average Wages/Employee: $23,116

Analysis

Some of this might not still be news, but if you've never heard it, it's news to you. Here a few thoughts:

1. Our population is shrinking. Hallelujah! With a decrease in family size and aggressive migration to the United States, our over-population is slowing getting better.
2. The 375,000 voters between the ages of 18 and 24 are likely to be key in next year's elections. It should be clear to all of the political parties that this demographic is significantly likely to watch local television, read newspapers, and is highly connected to the Internet and social media.
3. The private sector only employs 18.64% of the total population. That's an incredibly small percentage.
   
4. The average wage in the private sector is $23,116. Quite a bit higher than the $12,997 per capita income. Which I believe suggests my theory that there are a large number of people not "working."