Hawaii’s jobless rate stuck at 2.8% last month

Hawaii’s unemployment rate, which in January was the second lowest in the nation, held steady last month at 2.8 percent.

The seasonally adjusted number in February remained the state’s lowest since July 2007, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

“It indicates the economy continues to perform well,” said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “We saw another month of historical high levels of labor employment, and the number of people unemployed is the lowest level since November 2007.”

The state’s labor force, which includes people who are employed and those who are unemployed but actively seeking work, increased to a record 694,850 from the previous high of 693,600 in January.

There were a record 675,500 people employed in February, up from the previous high of 673,900 the previous month. Those numbers include people who are self-employed. The number of unemployed fell to 19,350 from 19,750.

“This kind of employment rate indicates that it may be difficult for businesses to find workers,” Tian said. “There might be some upward pressure on wages, which will lead to increasing inflation.”

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. unemployment rate, which was announced earlier this month, was 4.7 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 4.8 percent in January.

New Hampshire had the lowest unemployment rate in the country in January at 2.7 percent. The U.S. Department of Labor is scheduled to release the unemployment rate for all the states today.

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

The state’s nonfarm payroll jobs, which include people who might hold multiple jobs, rose by 500 in February to 650,500. The educational and health services category had the largest increase at 400 jobs while the financial activities sector had the largest job loss at 400 jobs. Construction, which has been a bellwether industry for the past couple of years, saw its job count fall by 200. Over the past year, total nonfarm jobs increased by 5,000, or 0.8 percent.

The number of people in Hawaii filing initial claims for unemployment continued to rise, which could indicate that the downward trend of the unemployment rate could be nearing an end. Initial unemployment claims in February rose by 194, or 18 percent, from a year ago when the jobless rate was 3.1 percent.

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 decreased to 2.5 percent from 2.8 percent the previous month. Hawaii County’s rate fell to 3.2 percent from 3.4 percent. Kauai County’s rate declined to 2.9 percent from 3.1 percent. Maui County’s rate fell to 3 percent from 3.3 percent.

Within Maui County, Maui island’s jobless rate fell to 2.9 percent from 3.3 percent while Lanai’s rate increased to 4.9 percent from 3.3 percent, and Molokai’s rate rose to 4.1 percent from 4 percent.