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Bloomberg
Puerto Rico employers reduced payrolls in October by the most in 21 years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island and knocked out power for weeks to most of the territory, Labor Department figures showed.
The drop totalled 3.6 percent of payrolls, or 31,600 people— the biggest drop since 1996— reducing nonfarm employment to 842,000, the lowest level since 1991. The report provides the most complete look at Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico’s job market, after storm damage prevented the collection of
September figures.
The Labor Department said response rates from Puerto Rico employers for October were
below average.
The dire situation in Puerto Rico—more than half of the island remains without power, about two months after the storm—is spurring an exodus to the mainland US.