Statewide Unemployment Dropped to 4.9% Last Month

State officials announced today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April declined to 4.9%, down from 5.1% in March.

The rate is a 20% reduction compared to the same month a year ago.

Hawaii’s unemployment rate is significantly lower than the national average. Last month the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5%, compared to 7.6% in March.

According to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the last time the unemployment rate in Hawaii was 4.9% was in October 2008.

Statewide, there were 614,000 employed and 31,850 unemployed in April, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 645,850.

The unemployment rate figures for the state and the US are seasonally adjusted, in accordance with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology.

The non seasonally adjusted rate for the state decreased to 4.5% in April, down from 5% in March.

Breakdown of unemployment rates per island across the state. Image courtesy DLIR.

Hawaii County had the second-highest unemployment rate in the state last month at 6.6%.

The island of Molokai had the highest rate of unemployment at 8.5%.

Across the islands, Lanai had the lowest unemployment rate with 2.4%, followed by Oahu at 3.9%, Maui island at 4.8%, and Kauai at 5.7%.

County and island rates of unemployment are not seasonally adjusted.