Maui County Unemployment Up Slightly to 4.3% in Sept.

Maui County’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.3% in September. Maui Now graphic by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Maui County’s unemployment rate for September was up slightly to 4.3%, from 4.2% reported a month earlier.

Despite a slight increase from month before figures, the county’s unemployment rain remained below the 5.3% rate recorded at the same time last year, according to new information released by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Unemployment rates in Maui County increased on Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi from month before levels, with Lānaʻi bringing in the most impressive rate of 2.5%, the lowest in the state–up from the 2.3% rate recorded a month before, and down from the 4.6% rate recorded at the same time last year.

The Island of Maui in Maui County recorded a 4.0% unemployment rate in September 2014, up from the 3.9% rate recorded in August, and down from the 5.2% rate reported in September of last year.

Molokaʻi continued to have the state’s highest unemployment rate of 15.6%–up from the 14.1% rate in August, and the 10.8% 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 dropped slightly to 4.2% in September, after a 4.3% rate reported in August 2014.

The department reports major industry employment gains in several areas with total job expansion of 2,700 more jobs than the previous month, including job expansion in the following areas: 1,500 jobs in Education and Health Services; 1,100 jobs in Trade, Transportation and Utilities; 1,000 jobs in construction; 700 jobs in Professional and Business Services; and 300 jobs in Financial Activities.

Job losses were reported in several sectors including: -300 jobs in Manufacturing; and -700 jobs in Leisure and Hospitality.

According to the new data, there were 638,050 employed and 27,900  unemployed individuals in the state in September, which combines for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 665,950.