Hawaiʻi County Unemployment at 3% in July

File photo.

Hawaiʻi County’s unemployment rate was 3.0% in July according to the latest estimates announced by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR). Unemployment fell by 0.5% from last June, and remains comparable to last year’s rate of 3.1% in Hawaiʻi County.

DLIR announced the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 2.1%, remaining unchanged from June. The report counted 673,350 residents as employed and 14,350 as unemployed in July, tallying to a seasonally adjusted labor force of 687,700. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9% in July, compared to 4.0% in June.

Table courtesy of DLIR.

Both initial claims and weeks claims decreased by 51 or -4.2% and by 745 or -9.3% respectively for unemployment benefits compared to one year ago. Over-the-month initial claims dropped by 9.6% and weeks claims increased by 0.9% in July 2018.

The latest report shows an increase of 1,700 non-agriculture jobs over-the-month. In comparison with one year ago, total nonfarm jobs have increased by 12,700, or 1.9%. Government employment increased by 400 jobs. Major industries saw gains including Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+600), Financial Activities (+600), Construction (+300), and Leisure & Hospitality (+300).

Within Trade, Transportation, & Utilities, most of the job expansion was spread among several categories of Retail Trade. Gains in Financial Activities were equally split between Finance & Insurance and Real Estate & Rental & Leasing. Employment remained unchanged in Information and Other Services.

Job losses occurred in Manufacturing (-100), Professional & Business Services (-100) and in Education & Health Services (-300).

DLIR’s unemployment rate figures are seasonally adjusted in accordance with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) methodology. The not seasonally adjusted rate for the State of Hawaiʻi was 2.2% in July, compared to the revised rate of 2.8% in June.

Graph courtesy of DLIR.