Jobless rate dips below 3% for first time in decade

Hawaii is now one of a handful of states in the under-3-percent-unemployment club.

The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined for the fifth straight month and hit 2.9 percent in December, the lowest level since September 2007, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month.

Hawaii’s lowest unemployment rate since January 1976 — the oldest available data — was 2.4 percent, achieved from October through December 2006 and May through September 1989.

The U.S. Department of Labor is not scheduled to release the December unemployment rates for all the states until Tuesday, but if November’s numbers hold for the other states, then Hawaii would be tied for the third-lowest in the nation behind New Hampshire and South Dakota, both at 2.7 percent. Massachusetts and North Dakota were both at 2.9 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate for December was 4.7 percent, up from 4.6 percent in November. The U.S. rate was reported earlier this month.

“Our labor market has been doing better than the nation for many years,” said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “Our unemployment rate has been below the U.S. since November 2000. It’s because Hawaii’s economy, in general, has been better in the recent cycles. Tourism is leading the economic expansion.”

Hawaii’s unemployment rate is derived largely from a monthly telephone survey of households, while a separate survey of businesses determines the number of nonagricultural payroll jobs.

The state’s labor force, which includes people who are employed and those who are unemployed but actively seeking work, increased to a record 699,900 from the previous high of 696,850 in November.

There were a record 679,900 people employed in December, up from the previous high of 676,200 the previous month. Those numbers include people self-employed. The number of unemployed fell to 20,000 from 20,650.

Among nonagricultural jobs, the professional and business services sector had the largest job gain with an increase of 1,000. The burgeoning construction sector added 300 jobs to 39,200. The highest monthly total ever for the construction industry was 40,700 last May.

The biggest job losses by industry occurred in financial activities with 400 fewer positions.

Government jobs declined by 3,200, mostly due to the release of general election temporary workers.

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 summer vacation seasons.

The unemployment rate fell in all four major counties. Honolulu County’s rate declined to 2.4 percent from 2.7 percent the previous month. Hawaii County’s rate dropped to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent. Kauai County’s rate fell to 2.8 percent from 3.1 percent. Maui County’s rate declined to 2.7 percent from 3 percent.

Within Maui County, Maui island’s jobless rate fell to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent and Molokai’s rate plunged to 5.4 percent from 6.9 percent. Lanai’s rate rose to 1.9 percent from 1.6 percent.