Don't discount the long-term unemployed

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 20, 2012

~~<p>Hawaii residents can find a lot to celebrate in the numbers coming out about joblessness in recent days, while still recognizing where we've fallen short: help for the long-term unemployed.</p>
<p>Figures released on Thursday showed the unemployment rate in the islands ticking down to 6.3 percent in April. A drop of one-tenth of a percentage point doesn't sound like much, but it crossed an important threshold all the same. That's the lowest level for joblessness marked in more than three years, according to figures from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The state's seasonally adjusted jobless rate has been on a slow but encouragingly steady downward track after hitting its zenith at 7.1 percent in the summer of 2009 in the wake of a severe national recession.</p>
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Hawaii residents can find a lot to celebrate in the numbers coming out about joblessness in recent days, while still recognizing where we've fallen short: help for the long-term unemployed.

Figures released on Thursday showed the unemployment rate in the islands ticking down to 6.3 percent in April. A drop of one-tenth of a percentage point doesn't sound like much, but it crossed an important threshold all the same. That's the lowest level for joblessness marked in more than three years, according to figures from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The state's seasonally adjusted jobless rate has been on a slow but encouragingly steady downward track after hitting its zenith at 7.1 percent in the summer of 2009 in the wake of a severe national recession. Login for more...