Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent in February, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
Compared with where the economy was a year ago, the most recent employment number is a good sign, said chief economist Eugene Tian of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
"The unemployment rate was the same as January, but it was a huge improvement from 4.7 percent in February last year," Tian said.
The labor force, which includes those who are employed and those who are unemployed but actively seeking work, reached a record 674,900. It’s the 14th month in a row that the labor force number has set a record.
The number of people employed totaled 647,000 in February, the 21st record month in a row.
"The labor market continues to improve," Tian said.
Nationally, the unemployment rate, which was announced earlier this month, fell two-tenths of a percent to 5.5 percent in February. Hawaii has one of the 10 lowest unemployment rates in the country; its specific ranking will be determined Thursday when the U.S. Labor Department releases all of the state’s jobless figures.
Hawaii had 630,100 nonfarm payroll jobs in February, down 1,200 from Jan- uary but up 7,200, or 1.2 percent, from February 2014.
"I don’t think the decrease in payroll jobs over the last month is a concern because there’s a variation between months," Tian said. "If you look at it year over year, 1.2 percent is good growth."
State and national labor force data are adjusted for seasonal factors, but the county jobs data are not seasonally adjusted and thus do not take into account variations such as the winter holiday and the summer vacation seasons.
For the counties, the unemployment rate statewide was mixed last month from January.
The rate decreased in Honolulu County to 3.9 percent from 4.1 percent and dipped in Kauai County to 4.8 percent from 4.9 percent. The jobless rate remained at 4.4 percent in Maui County and rose in Hawaii County to 5.3 percent from 5.2 percent.
Within Maui County, Maui island’s jobless rate fell to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent but Lanai increased to 3.7 percent from 3.4 percent, and Molokai jumped to 9.4 percent from 8.5 percent.
