Maui’s February unemployment rate at 3.2%

Maui County’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 3.2%, down from 3.1% in January, and down from 3.5% at the same time last year.

Lānaʻi continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.0%, while Molokaʻi had the highest rate at 4.8%.

The data was compiled by the Hawai‘i state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 3.6%, the same as in January. In February, 654,150 persons were employed and 24,250 were unemployed, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 678,450 statewide, according to the DBEDT.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in February, up from 3.4% in January.

The unemployment rate figures for Hawai‘i and the US are seasonally adjusted, in accordance with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology. The not seasonally adjusted rate for the state was 3.2% in February, compared to 3.1% in January.

In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs increased by 3,700 month-over- month, from January 2023 to February 2023.

Job gains were experienced in:

• Education & Health Services (+500);
• Leisure & Hospitality (+300);
• Information (+100); and
• Financial Activities (+100).

Employment in Manufacturing; and Trade, Transportation, & Utilities remained stable.

Job losses occurred in:

• Other Services (-100);
• Professional & Business Services (-200); and
• Construction (-800).

Government employment went up by 3,800 jobs, mostly due to a larger than typical seasonal recall of workers in the Department of Education. Year-over-year (February 2022 was the 23rd month of pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs have gone up by 24,400, or 4%. However, in comparison with March 2020 (the last month prior to pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs were down by 22,000, or -3.4%.