Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla said Wednesday his administration has created some 41,145 new jobs in the past 12 months, under the Jobs Now Act legislation passed in January 2013 to boost employment in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate jumped by a full percentage point year-over-year in December, when it reached 15.4 percent, Puerto Rico Labor Department statistics revealed Tuesday.
Puerto Rico’s labor market is at a crossroad, with thousands of productive workers fleeing to the U.S. mainland in search of professional opportunities that may not be available locally.