Hawai‘i Sees Lowest Unemployment Rate Since April 2008

Wendy Osher graphic.

By Maui Now Staff

The Hawai‘i State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 3.7 percent, down from 4.0 percent in June.

The last time the seasonally adjust unemployment rate was at or below 3.7 percent was in April 2008, when it was 3.6 percent, the department stated today.

Statewide, 648,050 were employed and 24,750 unemployed in July for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 672,800.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in July—the same as in June.

Initial unemployment benefits claims and weeks claims decreased by 195 (13.0 percent) and 2,446 (23.5) percent, respectively compared to one year ago.  Over-the-month both initial claims and weeks claims also decreased by 5.6 percent and 1.5 percent respectively from June 2015.

The unemployment rate figures for the State of Hawai‘i and the US in this release are seasonally adjusted, in accordance with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology. The not seasonally adjusted rate for the State was 3.3 percent in July, down from 4.4 percent in June.