Economy of Puerto Rico - Current Times

Current Times

Federal transfer payments to Puerto Rico make up more than 20% of the island's personal income. By comparison, the poorest state, Mississippi, had a median level of $21,587, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, 2002 to 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements. Since 1952, the gap between Puerto Rico's per capita income and the national level has changed substantially – from one third the U.S. national average and roughly half that of the poorest state in 1952, to 10% less than the poorest state in 2007. In 2006, the unemployment rate was 11.7%. By November 2009, it stood at 12% and had increased to 15.7% by October 2010. Currently the unemployment rate is at 15.9% The U.S. state with the highest unemployment in October 2007 was Michigan, at 7.7%, and the U.S. average was 4.4%. On November 15, 2006, the Legislature of Puerto Rico implemented a 5.5% sales tax. An optional 1-1.5% municipal tax had been in effect since May 2006.

The public debt of Puerto Rico has grown at a faster pace than the growth of its economy, reaching $46.7 billion in 2008. In January 2009, Governor Luis Fortuño enacted several measures aimed at eliminating the government's $3.3 billion deficit.