Isle employment outlook gets rosier

Hawaii’s seasonally unemployment rate edged up to 4.5 percent in December from 4.4 percent in November, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported Monday.

Despite the increase, the report painted an overall positive picture of Hawaii’s job market. The labor force, which is made up of people who are employed and those who are unemployed but looking for work, grew by 4,200 in December from November.

The number of employed rose by 3,400, outpacing an 850 increase in unemployed. The data suggest that the rise in unemployment was due in part to workers entering the labor force to look for jobs rather than people losing their jobs.

"If the job count is going up, that means the economy is doing better. Tourism has been doing well for some time, and construction is beginning to ramp up because of things like condominium development in Kakaako," said Leroy Laney, professor of economics and finance at Hawaii Pacific University.

Nationally the unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent in December from 7 percent in November.

State and national labor force data are adjusted for seasonal variations, such as temporary hiring by retailers for the holidays. The data were gathered from a telephone survey of households.

County data are not seasonally adjusted. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent from 4.2 percent in Hono­lulu County, to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent in Hawaii County, to 5.1 percent from 5.5 percent in Kauai County and to 4.6 percent from 4.9 percent in Maui County.

A separate survey of businesses showed that the number of nonagricultural jobs increased by 3,300 in December from November. The biggest increase was in the "other services" category, where employers reported adding 900 jobs. Construction industry jobs rose by 400, while leisure and hospitality positions increased by 200.

Compared with a year ago, Hawaii employers boosted hiring by 9,500, led by an increase of 4,700 jobs in leisure and hospitality and 1,500 positions in construction.