Puerto Rico

1. Name and address of the organization responsible for the census:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC, 20233.  The methodological information relating to the census has been provided by the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Planning Board, Census Office, PO Box 41119, Minillas Station, San Juan, PR 00940-1119.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000.   The present description relates to the 2000 census (held on 1st April).

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope: Whole country: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(b) Persons covered: All persons of all ages.

4. Reference period:

The week preceding the census day for employed persons, the four weeks preceding the census day for unemployed persons, and the last year for other economic characteristics.

5. Main topics:

(a) Total population, by sex and age: yes

Economically active population by:

(b) Sex and age group: yes

(c) Industry: yes

(d) Occupation:  yes

(e) Status in employment: yes

(f) Highest educational level: yes

(g) Hours of work: yes

(h) Other characteristics: yes

Re (a): The age is defined in terms of age at last birthday.

Re (g): Hours of work relate both to usual hours of work during the short reference period, and to the total period worked by employed persons during the past year (expressed in number of weeks).

Re (h): The census also collected information on other topics, namely: earnings; type of income; means of transport and time used to travel to workplace; layoff the last week.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population: It comprises all persons aged 16 years and over who, during the reference periods, were either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below.  Questions on economic activity were asked of a 17 per cent sample of all housing units (one household out of six).   The definition includes members of the armed forces, but the data published only relate to the civilian labour force.  Excluded from the definition are: working students with a part-time job, students seeking work, seasonal workers enumerated in an off-season who were not looking for work and persons doing only incidental unpaid family work.

(b) Employment: The questions used to determine whether or not a person was to be counted as employed were:  “Last week, did X do any work for either pay or profit?” and “During the weeks worked in 1999, how many hours did X work each week?”.

It is reported that the following categories are included:

i)     persons doing unpaid work in family firm or business or farm for 15 hours or more;

ii)    persons engaged in the production of primary products for own consumption;

iii)   employed persons, temporarily absent from work;

iv)   conscripts for military/civilian service; 

v)    apprentices and trainees.

Only persons belonging to category (iv) can be identified separately.

(c) Unemployment: The questions used to determine whether or not a person was to be counted as unemployed were:  “Last week, was X on layoff from a job?”, “Has X been looking for work during the last four weeks?” and “Last week, could X have started a job if offered one, or returned to work if recalled?”.

7. Classifications used:

Both employed persons and unemployed persons previously employed in the sample are classified by industry, by occupation and by status in employment.

(a) Industry: Based on the questions:  “For whom did X work?” and “What kind of business or industry was this (is this mainly manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade or something else)?”.  The industry classification system used for Census 2000 was developed for the census and consists of 265 categories classified into 14 major industry groups. This classification was developed from the 1997 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).  NAICS is an industry description system that groups establishments into industries based on the activities in which they are primarily engaged.  Statistics compiled on NAICS are comparable with statistics compiled according to ISIC-rev.3 for some sixty high level groupings.

(b) Occupation: Based on the questions: “What kind of work was X doing?” and “What were X’s most important activities or duties?”.  The occupational classification system used during Census 2000 consists of 509 specific occupational categories for employed people arranged into 23 major occupation groups.  This classification was developed on the basis of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual: 2000, which includes a hierarchical structure showing 23 major occupational groups divided into 96 minor groups, 449 broad groups, and 821 detailed occupations.  For Census 2000, tabulations with occupation as the primary characteristic present several levels of occupational detail.  According to the information provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual has a link to ISCO; many of the occupations have a one to one match.  (A crosswalk between SOC and ISCO has been produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

(c) Status in employment: Based on the question “Was X:  i) Employee of a private-for-profit company or business or of an individual, for wages, salary, or commissions; ii) Employee of a private not-for-profit, tax-exempt, or charitable organization; iii) Local Government employee (city, county, municipio, etc.); iv) State (Commonwealth) Government employee; v) Federal Government employee; vi) Self-employed in own not-incorporated business, professional practice, or farm; vii) Self-employed in own incorporated business, professional practice, or farm; viii) Working without pay in family business or farm?”.  For coding this variable, the above eight categories were used.  (The data on employment status were derived from answers to the long-form questionnaire, asked of a sample of the population aged 15 years and over; the employment status data shown in Census 2000 tabulations relate to persons aged 16 years and over). 

(d) Level of education: Based on the question  “What is the highest degree or level of school X has completed?”.  Data on educational attainment are tabulated for the population aged 25 years and over.  16 groups were used to code this variable.  The national educational classification is not linked to ISCED.  (The data on educational attainment were derived from answers to the long-form questionnaire, asked of a sample of the population).

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

No major differences.  There were some differences in terms of the questionnaire content between the 2000 and the 1990 census.  For the Puerto Rico 2000 Census, the topics “Vocational Training” and “Last Year Worked” were excluded from the questionnaire.

9. Publication of the census results:

The title of the publication containing the 2000 Census results is “2000 Census of Population and Housing, Summary Social, Economic and Housing Characteristics, Puerto Rico: 2000, (PHC-2-53)”, issued in July 2003.

The organization responsible for this publication is the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC, 20233.

The 2000 Puerto Rico Decennial Census of Population and Housing results are also available in the form of CD-ROM’s, DVD’s, printed reports and on the websites of the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov) and the Puerto Rico Planning Board (PRPB), Census Office (www.censo.gobierno.pr).