Maui County Unemployment Improves to 4.8% in July

Maui County’s unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in July. Maui Now graphic by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Maui County’s unemployment rate for July improved to 4.8%, down from the 5.o% rate reported a month earlier, and also down from the 5.1% recorded at the same time last year, according to new information released by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Unemployment rates across the county dropped from month before levels with Lānaʻi bringing in the most impressive rate of 2.7%, the lowest in the state–down from the 3.3% rate recorded a month before, but up from the 2.1% rate recorded at the same time last year.

The Island of Maui in Maui County recorded a 4.6% unemployment rate in July 2014, down from the 4.8% rate recorded in June, and down from the 4.9% rate reported in July of last year.

Molokaʻi continued to have the state’s highest unemployment rate of 12.1%–down from the 13.6% rate in June, and the 13.1% 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 remained at 4.4% in July, unchanged for the fourth consecutive month, 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 job expansion of: 1,400 jobs in Education and Health Services; 700 jobs in Leisure and Hospitality; 200 jobs in Construction; and 200 jobs in Financial Activities.

Job losses were reported in several sectors including: -1,100 jobs in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities(including -600 in Retail and -400 in Wholesale); -1,000 jobs in Professional and Business Services; and -100 in Manufacturing.

According to the new data, there were 632,950 employed and 29,250  unemployed individuals in the state in July, which combines for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 662,150.