Maui Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Drop 40%

By Sonia Isotov

Fewer initial unemployment claims were filed in Maui County for the week ending Feb 26 compared to the same week last year.

According to numbers from the Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Maui County saw an almost 40% drop in initial filings from a year ago; the largest drop for all counties. Maui County also saw 31 fewer initial claims and 88 fewer weekly claims from the previous week ending Feb 19.

Overall, statewide initial unemployment claims decreased by 26.6%, with this week’s
total filings of 1,637 and filings during the same week in 2010 of 2,229.

Comparing 2011 to 2010 for the counties:

Oahu had 412 fewer claims filed
Hawaii had 39 more claims filed
Maui had 137 fewer claims filed
Kauai had 1 fewer claims filed

In percentage changes, comparing the current week to the same week a year ago:

Oahu had a 31.5% decrease
Hawaii had a 10.4% increase
Maui had a 39.8% decrease
Kauai had a .7% increase

Initial claims or filings reflect persons who begin a new period of unemployment; be it due to an initiation of a new benefit year or subsequent period of unemployment (additional claim).

Weeks claimed refers to a person requesting a weekly unemployment payments, whether or not benefits are actually paid, filed by claimants during the reference week.