State Employment Forecast to Expand by 4%

Groundbreaking of the Pu‘unēnē Shopping Center that will house Maui’s first Target store. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations today released a report that forecasts an employment expansion in Hawaiʻi of 4% for the two-year period ending in the first quarter of 2015.

That translates to an additional 26,880 jobs, with construction adding 4,960 jobs and leading the recovery at a growth rate of 16.7%, department officials announced.

The data is part of a short-term employment forecast for 2015.

According to the report, jobs in services–including food preparation, maintenance and grounds cleaning–will contribute the greatest number of job openings, projected at 9,480 annually.

The full report is available at the following direct LINK.