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Hawaii’s economy is continuing its steady growth track and should maintain that pace into next year.
The state said Thursday in its quarterly forecast that economic conditions remain unchanged from its third-quarter projections and that the underperforming construction industry is still on its way to be the leading industry for economic growth.
Hawaii’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, should rise 2.6 percent this year, unchanged from its third-quarter forecast, according to the report released by the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. But next year, the state said growth is expected to increase 2.8 percent, up from 2.2 percent in its previous forecast. The 2.8 percent growth, though, still would be slightly lower than the 3.0 percent growth rate for the U.S. economy, DBEDT noted.
Visitor arrivals, which are on track for their third straight record year, are expected to rise 0.8 percent this year, slightly up from the state’s previous 0.7 percent forecast in August, and but rise just 1.9 percent in 2015, slightly lower than the 2.0 percent previously forecast.
“The fundamentals are strong with steady growth and we expect this to continue into 2015,” DBEDT Director Richard Lim said. “Our labor market remains robust, with unemployment being the seventh lowest in the nation and employment levels reaching an historic high during the first nine months of the year. Visitor arrivals are on track to set another record year in 2014. The value of building permits increased 15.9 percent as of September, indicating a good year for construction next year.”
