Hawaiʻi July unemployment rate at 2.7%

Maui Countyʻs non seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July 2026 was 2.8%, down from the 3.2% rate reported a month earlier, and up from the 2.4% rate reported at the same time last year. Island specific unemployment rates were 2.8% on Maui, 4.0% on Molokaʻi and 3.0% on Lānaʻi.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 2.7%, compared to 2.6% in June. In July, 672,500 persons were employed and 18,350 were unemployed, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 690,900 statewide. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1% in July, down from 4.2% in June.

The unemployment rate figures for the state of Hawai‘i and the US in this release are seasonally adjusted in accordance with US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) methodology. The not-seasonally adjusted rate for the state was 2.9% in July compared to 3.2% in June.

In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs decreased by 500 month over month, from July 2026 to August 2026. Job gains were experienced in Leisure & Hospitality (+300); Private Education & Health Services (+200); and Information (+100). Employment remained unchanged in Other Services.

Job losses occurred in Financial Activities (-200); Manufacturing (-300); Construction (-400); Trade, Transportation & Utilities (-400); and Professional & Business Services (-400).

Government employment went up by 600 jobs. Within Government, the increase was in State Government, mostly due to less seasonal dropoff in the Department of Education and the University of Hawaiʻi system, along with hiring for a summer youth employment program by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Year over year, nonfarm jobs have gone up by 1,200, or 0.2%.