Hawai‘i County Sees 3% Unemployment in September 2018

File photo.

Unemployment in Hawai‘i County rose slightly during September to 3.0% according to the latest data released by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.  DLIR reported the county’s unemployment rate at 2.7% during August.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September remained low at 2.2% compared with 2.1% in June through August. This figure accounts for 671,750 employed and 15,050 unemployed in September for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 686,800. According to these numbers, jobs have increased 11,600 over-the-year.

Initial claims increased by 14.4% while weeks claims decreased by 8.5% for unemployment benefits compared with the same period one year ago. Over-the-month initial claims and weeks claims rose by 25.5% and 2.7%, respectively, during September 2018.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7% in September compared to 3.9% in August.

These report rate figures for the State of Hawai‘i and the U.S. are seasonally adjusted according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) methodology.

Table courtesy of DLIR.

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the State of Hawai‘i was 2.5% in September compared with 2.2% in August.

In other measures of statewide employment there was a decline of 2,500 jobs over-the-month. In the major job sectors, gains were seen in Professional & Business Services (+1,400) with the bulk of the increase coming from Professional Employer Organizations. Employment in Trade, Transportation, & Utilities and Information remained the same. Job losses occurred in Education & Health Services (-100), Other Services (-100), Financial Activities (-200), Manufacturing (-200), Construction (-300) and Leisure & Hospitality (-500). Government contracted positions decreased by 2,500 jobs, largely due to the release of primary election workers.

Compared to the same time one year ago, total non-farm jobs throughout the state have expanded by 11,600 or 1.8%.

Graph courtesy of DLIR.