State unemployment rate holds at 2.7%

Hawaii’s unemployment rate is holding at a 10-year low as the economy continues to show moderate growth.

The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate in May came in at 2.7 percent for the third month in a row, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

“It indicates the economy is stabilizing,” said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “I think we are in stable growth in the labor market. It’s possible we could go lower.”

Since peaking at 7.3 percent in 2009 during the recession, the jobless rate has fallen steadily. It fell below 4 percent in March 2015 and dipped below 3 percent in October. Until this year the last time the jobless rate was at 2.7 percent or lower was in June 2007.

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

As of April, Hawaii was tied with North Dakota for the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country behind Colorado’s 2.3 percent.

Hawaii’s nonfarm payroll jobs, which include people who might hold multiple jobs, increased to 654,100 from 653,100 in April. The leisure and hospitality sector had the largest increase at 1,000 jobs with the trade, transportation and utilities sector next at 700.

Construction, which has been a bellwether industry the past couple of years, saw its job count rise by 100 to 37,500 from 37,400. Over the past 12 months, though, the number of construction jobs is down 1.6 percent from 38,100.

“At the beginning of last year, construction was great, and starting in the second half it was slowing down,” Tian said. “But the month-over-month increase of construction jobs in May indicates the construction industry is picking up. That’s consistent with the building permit number. The value of private building permits through the first four months of this year was an increase of 47.8 percent (over the year-earlier period).”

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 labor force, which includes people who are employed and those who are unemployed but actively seeking work, fell last month to 697,450 from 698,000 in April.

There were 678,300 employed in May, down from 679,050 the previous month. Those numbers include people who are self-employed. The number of unemployed rose to 19,150 from 18,950.

Hawaii’s jobless rate continues to be lower than in the U.S. as a whole. Earlier this month the national rate came in at 4.3 percent for May, down from 4.4 percent the previous month.

Across the state the unemployment rate rose in two of the four major counties from the year-earlier month and held steady in the other two counties. 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.

Honolulu County’s rate rose to 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent, and Hawaii County’s rate increased to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent. The rates for Kauai and Maui counties both remained at 3 percent.

Within Maui County, Maui’s jobless rate fell to 2.9 percent from 3 percent while Molokai’s rate rose to 6.7 percent from 5.8 percent and Lanai’s rate edged up to 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent.