Hawaii’s jobless rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent in April for the fourth month in a row, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Tuesday.

The number of nonfarm payroll jobs was flat at 630,700 — the same as in March, but 7,500 more than the year-earlier period.

The largest job gain was in government, primarily due to seasonal work at the Department of Education and University of Hawaii system, DLIR noted. There were 1,100 more jobs in that grouping than the previous month, rising to 124,800 from 123,700.

"Employment is stable. In terms of job count, this is very healthy," said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. "So that is a very healthy growth. The numbers show the economy continued to improve."

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4 percent in April, down month-over-month from 5.5 percent.

Hawaii’s labor force, which includes those who are employed and those who are unemployed but actively seeking work, totaled 675,600 last month, down slightly from 675,900 in March.

The sector with the biggest loss was construction, which declined by 900 jobs to 31,400 from 32,300 the previous month. However, DLIR said the decline in construction jobs isn’t a true reflection of what is happening in the industry because if a building firm uses a professional employer organization, the jobs are reported as business services, not construction.

Initial jobless claims in April fell by 21.8 percent from March, DLIR said.