Hawaii’s declining unemployment rate still may be far off its all-time low, but there are now more people working in the state than ever before.
The 625,643 employed in January in the state pushed down the unemployment rate by one-tenth of a point to 4.6 percent, according to seasonally adjusted data released Monday from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The previous record for employment was 625,345 in January 2007.
January’s unemployment rate was the lowest since September 2008, when it also hit 4.6 percent.
"It’s a positive sign, no doubt about that," said Leroy Laney, a professor of economics and finance at Hawaii Pacific University. "I think the number of people employed probably is affected by a growing labor force. As the population grows, the labor force grows, so the number of employed doesn’t totally reflect an improving economy, but I suspect some of that does."
Hawaii’s population grew 1 percent to 1.40 million in 2013 from 1.39 million the year before. But even with the growth, the 30,255 categorized as unemployed were the fewest since September 2008, when there were 29,741 unemployed. The number of unemployed doesn’t include those people who have become so discouraged that they’ve stopped looking for work.
The labor force, which is made up of people who are employed and those who are unemployed but looking for work, was 655,898 in January, up by 2,209 from 653,689 in December and up by 8,494 from 647,404 in January 2013.
"Labor data shows that Hawaii’s labor market continues to improve with unemployment rate among the lowest in the nation," said Eugene Tian, economic research administrator for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. "It is encouraging to see that the labor force is approaching the 2011 level."
Hawaii’s jobless rate in January was down from a revised 4.7 percent in December. That number previously was reported to be 4.5 percent.
The state’s unemployment rate of 4.6 percent ranks as the eighth lowest in the nation but has a way to go before approaching its all-time low of 2.3 percent achieved nine times, the last in December 2006.
If Roberts Hawaii Inc. has anything to do with it, that unemployment rate figures to go lower. Roberts Hawaii is seeking to fill 200 open positions statewide to add to its current workforce of 1,550. Its biggest challenge is to grow its school bus transportation department on Oahu by 50 percent — to 300 from 200 — in the next three to four months, according to Melody Fukushima, director of human resources for Roberts Hawaii.
"We gained a school bus contract recently, so come the beginning of June, Oahu is going to go from five school bus operators to two, and one of the companies the (Department of Education) selected was Roberts Hawaii. So I basically need to hire 100 drivers and school bus aides in the next few months."
Fukushima said the company is seeking both commercial drivers for its buses and Type 3 drivers to drive vans.
"It’s definitely a great challenge for Roberts Hawaii to meet the demand for the open positions," Fukushima said.
Nationally the unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in February, 6.6 percent in January and 6.7 percent in December. Hawaii hasn’t released its February numbers yet.
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 in January rose to 4.2 percent from 3.8 percent in Honolulu County, to 6.1 percent from 5.9 percent in Hawaii County, to 5.4 percent from 5.2 percent in Kauai County and to 5 percent from 4.7 percent in Maui County.
In Maui County the jobless rate rose to 5 percent from 4.5 percent on the island of Maui, declined to 6.9 percent from 7.8 percent on Molokai and fell to 3 percent from 4.8 percent on Lanai.
A separate survey of businesses showed that the number of nonagricultural jobs declined by 2,100 in January from December. The biggest increase was in the "other services" category, where employers reported adding 900 jobs. Leisure and hospitality positions increased by 700, and educational and health services jobs rose by 200.
The largest job losses occurred in trade, transportation and utilities (down 1,800); professional and business services (off 800); and construction (down 500).
Compared with a year ago, Hawaii employers boosted hiring by 12,500, or 2.1 percent, led by an increase of 5,500 in government and 3,200 jobs in leisure and hospitality.
