Puerto Rico’s manufacturing sector shipped $58.6 billion worth of goods and employed 126,707 people at 2,195 locations in 2002, according to a new report released today based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s recent economic census of Puerto Rico.

    Chemicals, at $39.8 billion, led all manufacturing subsectors in value of shipments. Food manufacturing, with $4.9 billion in shipments, was a distant second.

    Other highlights of the report, 2002 Economic Census of Island Areas: Puerto Rico Manufacturing [PDF], include:

• Overall, Puerto Rico’s manufacturing sector had an annual payroll of $3.1 billion, spent $13.4 billion on materials and had $3.7 billion in capital expenditures.
  
  
• The San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo combined statistical area, with $44.5 billion, accounted for about three-fourths of the value of shipments for Puerto Rico’s manufacturers; among the island’s 78 municipios (county equivalents), Barceloneta led in value of shipments, with $9.9 billion.
  
  
• The total value of shipments to the U.S. mainland by Puerto Rico’s manufacturers in 2002 was $34.7 billion, comprising more than one-half of all of Puerto Rico’s manufacturing shipments.

    The report contains the first economic census information for Puerto Rico based on the North American Industry Classification System. Previous censuses were based on the Standard Industrial Classification System codes, so 2002 information for most industries is not directly comparable to previous economic censuses.

    The report provides data on the number of employees and production workers, value added by manufacture, cost of materials, value of shipments and capital expenditures for all manufacturing establishments in Puerto Rico.

    A construction report and geographic areas report are scheduled for release early next year. The geographic areas report will have information for all sectors other than manufacturing and construction covered in the 2002 Economic Census.

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Economic census data are subject to nonsampling error, which includes errors of response, processing, nonreporting and coverage.