Skip to main content
Back to Show
PBS News Hour

Puerto Rican economic disaster leaves residents struggling

For years, the Puerto Rican economy has been in decline, and the U.S. territory is now on the brink of disaster, with $72 billion of overall debt and an unemployment rate twice that of the mainland. As the island’s government is forced to suspend funding for vital services, hundreds of Puerto Ricans are leaving every day, while those who remain struggle to stay afloat. Jeffrey Brown reports.