Maui Island Unemployment Rate at 2.9% in May

Maui County’s 3% unemployment rate for May was unchanged from April and down slightly from the 3.1% rate reported at the same time last year. The new data was released today by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Unemployment rates in Maui County remained steady on Maui and Lānaʻi, but increased on Molokaʻi from month before levels.

Unemployment rates for May 2017. Maui Now graphic.

Lānaʻi’s rate of 3.4% was up slightly from the 3.3% rate recorded a month before, and down significantly from the 6.8% rate recorded at the same time last year.

The Island of Maui in Maui County recorded a 2.9% unemployment rate in May 2017, down from the 3% rate recorded in April, and unchanged from the 2.9% rate reported last year.

Molokaʻi continued to have the state’s highest unemployment rate of 6.7%–up from the 5.8% rate in April, and down from the 7.1% rate recorded at the same time last year.

The Hawaii State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations today announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May was 2.7%, the same as in March and April.

“Hawaiʻi’s economy is holding firm at a low 2.7% unemployment rate for a third consecutive month,” said Linda Chu Takayama, director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.  Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3% in May, compared to 4.4% in April.

The department reports industry employment gains in several areas including the following job expansions: Leisure & Hospitality (+1,000), Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+700), Educational & Health Services (+500), Manufacturing (+200) and Construction (+100).

Job losses were experienced in Financial Activities (-200), Information (-500) and Professional & Business Services (-800).

According to the new data, there were 678,300 employed and 19,150 unemployed individuals in the state in May, which combines for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 697,450.