5.2% rate is lowest since October 2008

By Alan Yonan Jr.

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 18, 2013

~~<p>A gain of nearly 12,000 jobs in 2012 helped push Hawaii's unemployment rate to 5.2 percent by year's end, the lowest level in more than four years, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported Thursday.</p>
<p>The December jobless rate was down from 5.3 percent in November. It marked the fifth straight monthly decline in unemployment, which had been stuck in the 6 percent to 7 percent range for much of the previous three years as Hawaii struggled to recover from an economic recession.</p>
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A gain of nearly 12,000 jobs in 2012 helped push Hawaii's unemployment rate to 5.2 percent by year's end, the lowest level in more than four years, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported Thursday.

The December jobless rate was down from 5.3 percent in November. It marked the fifth straight monthly decline in unemployment, which had been stuck in the 6 percent to 7 percent range for much of the previous three years as Hawaii struggled to recover from an economic recession. Login for more...