Area Analysis 10 At the national level, the U.S. Virgin Islands elects a delegate to Congress from its at-large : congressional district. However, the elected delegate, while able to vote in committee, cannot ; participate in floor votes. | At the territorial level, 15 senators—seven from the district of Saint Croix, seven from the district of i Saint Thomas and Saint John, and one senator at-large who must be a resident of Saint John—are elected for two-year terms to the unicameral Virgin Islands Legislature. The U.S. Virgin Islands has / elected a territorial governor every four years since 1970. Previous governors were appointed by the i President of the United States. i Population and Employment ' In 2008, the residential population of the Virgin Islands peaked at an estimated 115,852 persons. This . follows five years of slow but steady growth of 1.0%, slightly slower than the U.S. annual average of : 1.15%. Since 2008, population levels have fallen each year, to the 2014 estimated population of ; 103,961 persons. | Among the three islands, St Croix and St Thomas are nearly equally populous with St John having less i than 4 percent of the total population of the Virgin Islands. : USVI Economic indicators : 5 Yr Ann e 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20160 2011 2012 2013 2014 Growth Population 111,470 113,689 114,743 115,852 107,343 106,405 105,784 105,169 104,563 103,961 0.6% « St. Croix 54,635 $5,722 56,239 56,783 52,612 50,601 50,247 50,005 49,938 49,656 -1.1% : St. Thomas 52,528 53,574 54,070 54,592 50,583 51,634 51,266 51,051 50,610 50,316 0.1% / St.John 4,307 4,393 4,434 4,477 4,148 4,170 4,134 4,113 4,015 3,989 0.8% Civilian labor force 51,159 51,159 52,670 52,630 52,861 51,424 50,729 50,577 47,558 46,784 -2.3% - Civilian employment 47,301 48,640 49,547 49,589 48,863 47,272 46,121 44,659 41,207 40,687 -3.3% t Unemployment rate (percent) 7.1% 6.2% 5.9% 58% 76% 8.1% 8.9% 11.7% 13.4% 13.0% 14.2% : Gross Territorial Product (GTP, Millions) $4,457 $4,635 $4,836 $4,851