Maui County Unemployment 5.1% in June

Maui County’s unemployment rate fell to 5.1% in June. Maui Now graphic.

By Wendy Osher

Maui County’s unemployment rate for June was 5.1%, up from the 4.7% reported a month earlier, and down from the 5.6% recorded at the same time last year, according to new information released by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The Island of Maui in Maui County recorded a slightly lower rate of 4.8% in June 2014, up from the 4.6% rate recorded in May, and down from the 5.5% rate reported in June of last year.

The Island of Lānaʻi continued to record the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.4%, unchanged from the month before, and up from the 2.2% rate recorded at the same time last year.

Molokaʻi continued to have the state’s highest unemployment rate of 13.8%–up significantly from the 8.6% rate in May, and the 11.3% rate recorded at the same time last year.

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations noted that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state was 4.4% in June, unchanged from the month before, and down from the 4.7% rate recorded at the same time last year.

The department reports major industry employment gains in several areas including an additional 1,300 jobs in the Trade, Transportation, & Utilities sector, and +100 jobs in Manufacturing.  Within the Trade, Transportation, & Utilities sector, the department reports that job growth was strongest in Transportation, especially in sectors relating to the visitor industry.

Job losses were reported in several sectors including: -200 jobs in Financial Activities; -200 jobs in Leisure & Hospitality; -300 jobs in Professional and Business Services; -700 jobs in Construction; and -1,000 jobs in Educational and Health Services.

The DLIR reports that the largest decline within the Educational and Health Services sector was from Ambulatory Health Care.

According to the new data, there were 632,450 employed and 29,150  unemployed individuals in the state in June, which combines for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 661,550.