Maui’s unemployment rate dips to 2.8% in April 2023

Maui’s unemployment rate dipped to 2.8% in April of 2023, down from 3.4% in March. When compared to last year, Maui Island and Maui County’s unemployment rates were down from 3.2%. 

Maui County’s outer islands of Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi had the lowest and highest unemployment rates across the state respectively. The island of Lānaʻi had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.5%, and Molokaʻi had the highest rate at 4.6% in April. 

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

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 3.3%, compared to 3.5% in March. In April, 656,400 persons were employed and 22,500 were unemployed, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 678,900 statewide. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4% in April, down from 3.5% in March.

The unemployment rate figures for the State of 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 2.7% in April, compared to the revised rate of 3% in March.

In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs decreased by 1,000 month-over-month, from March 2023 to April 2023, according to the report.

• Job gains were experienced in Professional & Business Services (+500); Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+100); and Private Education & Health Services (+100). Within Professional & Business Services, gains were concentrated in the Administrative & Support & Waste Management & Remediation Services subsector. Employment in Manufacturing; Information; and Other Services remained stable.
• Job losses occurred in Financial Activities (-200); Leisure & Hospitality (-600); and Construction (-1,000). Within Leisure & Hospitality, job contraction occurred in Food Services & Drinking Places. Within Construction, about one-half of the decline was in Specialty Trade Contractors.

Government employment went up by 100 jobs. Year-over-year (April 2022 was the 25th month of pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs have gone up by 18,600, or 3%. However, in comparison with March 2020 (the last month prior to pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs were down by 24,100, or -3.7%, according to the report.