Officials with the U.S. Census Bureau painted a clear picture of the island’s economy and workforce in a time of recovery, breaking down the number of businesses, total employment, and revenue in the aftermath of the global pandemic.

The data reflected shuttering establishments and a dip in sales in some sectors in 2022 compared to 2017, while other areas saw slight growth. 

Robert Nusz is an Assistant Director Staff Chief with the Census Bureau. 

“So, we’ve seen increases in the construction sector and the wholesale sector–which could be tied to construction with the materials…but we’ve seen decreases in the retail and the accommodation of food services sector tied to tourism,” said Nusz. 

Still, the data highlighted both the accommodation and food services and retail sectors among the top three by the number of employees in 2022, at 11,996 and 8,447 respectively. 

While construction sits around over 6,000. 

The census also totaled the number of businesses in each village, with Tamuning dominating all municipalities by 1,616. 

Michael Sprung, Bureau Assistant Survey Director, on how these informational tables can be useful to help inform the future of the island’s business sphere. 

“Businesses use it to make decisions on when and if to expand and where to expand–government policy decisions,” said Sprung. 

Meantime, other areas of growth were recorded in the transportation and warehousing sectors. 

You can view the census snapshot below.