Payroll employment in Puerto Rico grew 1.1% in September, the fourth consecutive year-over-year increase, according to adjusted data from the Nonfarm Payroll Employment Survey of the Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH). The economy created 10,200 jobs compared with a year earlier, the highest figure in 27 months. The gains contrast with 2025, when Puerto Rico lost 1,700 jobs, a 0.2% decline, versus 1.0% employment growth in 2024.
The figures reflect a slowdown: after growing above 5% in the two years following the pandemic, the pace of increase moderated until turning negative in 2025. The four years from 2021 to 2024 were the longest period of employment growth in more than two decades.