Hawaii’s unemployment rate rises to 4.1 percent
Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose for the first time in 18 months as it ticked up one-tenth of a point to 4.1 percent in January, according to data released Monday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
The last time the state jobless rate rose was in August 2013 when it increased one-tenth of a point to 4.8 percent.
Despite the upturn in unemployment, the state added 5,300 non-agricultural jobs in January from the previous month.
Nationally, the unemployment rate in January was 5.7 percent, up from 5.6 percent in December. The U.S. rate subsequently fell to 5.5 percent in February.
Hawaii is not scheduled to release its February unemployment rate until March 25. The release dates for Hawaii’s January and February numbers are close together because of revisions that the state does at the start of each year.