By The Star Staff
Puerto Rico’s economic activity index (EDB-EAI) reached 128.2 points in August, reflecting a 3.3% year-over-year (YoY) increase from August 2022.
The information is contained in the latest preliminary report from the Economic Development Bank (EDB) for Puerto Rico, issued earlier this week.
During fiscal year (FY) 2022, the EDB-EAI, seasonally adjusted (s.a.), increased by 4.9% when compared to FY 2021, and advanced, preliminarily, by 0.3% during FY 2023. For the July-August period of FY 2024 it grew by 3.4% compared to the previous year.
Moreover, a preliminary increase of 1.9% was registered during calendar year 2022, after an increase of 4.9% during calendar year 2021.
For the first eight months of 2023 (January–August), it reached a 1.4% growth when compared to the same period from the previous year.
Total non-farm payroll employment, s.a., averaged 954.4 jobs in August 2023, which represents an expansion of 1.2% on a month-over-month (MoM) basis, and annual increase of 3.5%.
Electric power generation, s.a., for August totaled 1,594.5 million kilowatt-hours, a 4.2% drop on an MoM basis, and an annual increase of 2.1%.
The preliminary estimate for gasoline consumption, s.a., in August totaled 70.6 million gallons, 0.5% above the 70.3 million of gallons estimated for July, and a 2.1% improvement when compared to the same month from the previous year.
Cement sales, s.a., totaled 1,217.7 million 94-pound bags for August, with an increase of 2.4% on an MoM basis, and a decrease of 3% when compared to August 2022.