all government workers by 30 percent, that we increase property taxes on residential and commercial property and that we impose an income tax surcharge on the salaries of all workers in the Territory," he said. "These draconian recommendations of the Chambers of Commerce to avoid the imposition of a 25 cents tax on a bottle of beer or a 50 cents tax on a bottle of rum. It's now time to put our people ... first." Statistics The CIA's research concluded that the islands hosted nearly 3 million tourists per year (2014 estimate), mostly from visiting cruise ships. However, the more recent May 2016 estimate for the number of arrivals by the VI Bureau of Economic Research totals 1,208,295 by cruise ship and 403,876 people by air. Not all of the latter would have been tourists, of course. The government's budget in 2013 consisted of $1.223 billion in revenues and $1.551 billion in expenditures. Federal programs and grants of $241.4 million contributed 19.7% of the territory's total revenues in 2013. The following data was compiled from the reports published by the CIA and the VI Bureau of Economic Research. All of the information pre-dated the financial crisis of early 2017 which may have had an effect on several economic categories. Gross Domestic Product (official exchange rate): $5.075 billion (2013) GDP - per capita (PPP): $36,100 (2013 est.) $39,300 (2012 est.) $40,500 (2011 est.) GDP - real growth rate: -5.4% (2013 est.) -13.8% (2012 est.) -7.5% (2011 est.) GDP - composition, by sector of origin: agriculture: 2% industry: 20% services: 78% (2012 est.) * Public debt: 45.9% of GDP (2014) * Unemployment rate: 13% (2014) 11.5% (first half of 2016) * Civilian labor force (2016) 42,752 persons * Private sector jobs (2016) 71 percent of the total * Average salary (2016) $39,258 (private sector, $34,088; public sector $52,572) * Rum Shipments in six months (2016) 8,136.6 proof gallons * Average value of homes sold (2015) $508,811 References External links US Virgin Islands Department of Labor YouthNet