Youngest and Oldest Workers Drove Job Recovery After Hurricane Maria
The youngest and oldest workers drove Puerto Rico’s employment recovery after Hurricane Maria devastated the island five years ago.
Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the first Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) for Puerto Rico, providing rich demographic profiles of the island’s employment.
After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, there was an increase in net outmigration and sharp decline in private-sector employment. Both trends were partly reversed the following year.
While the data released today cannot measure the current state of employment in Puerto Rico, the inclusion of Puerto Rico in the QWI will help assess the employment impacts of Hurricane Fiona, which struck the island last week.
