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Hawaii’s nation-low unemployment rate held at 2.1 percent in July for the second straight month as the state’s labor market remained on solid footing.
The jobless number, which hit an all-time Hawaii low of 2 percent in April and May, has barely budged in the last 10 months, according to data released today by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The unemployment rate dropped by one-tenth of a point to 2.1 percent in October to begin a string of six straight months at that level before dipping to 2 percent and then ticking back up to 2.1 percent.
“This is indicating that the labor market is stable because it’s been around 2 percent for almost a year,” said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “I think it also indicates that the Hawaii labor market has reached a low level and this might be the lowest it can go in terms of an unemployment rate.”
The number of people in the labor force, which includes people who are employed, those who are unemployed but actively seeking work and those who are self-employed, rose to a record 687,700 from a high of 687,550 the previous month. Those employed remained at 673,350 but those unemployed rose by 150, to 14,350, as more people entered the labor force.
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