Versión español

Cover of Puerto Rico en el mundo

A fundamental aspect for the study of Puerto Rican economy is the relative contribution of each sector to production, income and employ­ment. Available statistics allow the analysis of the transformation of the labor market from a long term perspective, taking the sec­ond half of the twentieth century as a starting point. The evolution of the economy in Puerto Rico has been influenced not only by the rhythm of rapid growth of industrial urban sectors but, mainly, by structural change. This new macroeconomic structure is evidenced particularly in the role of agriculture, manufacturing, government, services, and trade.

In Puerto Rico, since the middle of the last century, the sectors that contributed most to the GNP (Gross National Product) were agriculture, trade and manufacturing, with 18.3%, 19.9% and 16.5% respectively. There is no doubt that back then, Puerto Rican society was still eminently agricultural, and that commercial activity (wholesale and retail) also played a leading role. Since 1960, however, two processes seem irreversible: the decrease in agricultural activity, on one hand; and the growth of manufacturing, on the other. By that year this latter sector already occupied first place in terms of its contribution to the GNP, followed by trade; agricul­ture had reduced its proportion to hardly 9.7%, almost half of what it had contributed ten years before. The drastic reduction in the contribution of agriculture to production and national income was accompanied by a similar tendency in employment in that sector.