Hawaii’s unemployment rate in September dropped to 2.5 percent, down from 2.6 percent in August and near the all-time low of 2.4 percent set in 2006 and 1989.

The Hawaii State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations said said 671,800 were employed statewide and 16,950 unemployed in September for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 688,750. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in September, compared to 4.4 percent in August.

“A 2.5 percent unemployment rate is only one tenth of one percentage point from our lowest unemployment rates dating back to 1976,” said Linda Chu Takayama, DLIR Director. “Only eight months in 1989 and 2006 did we have a lower rate at 2.4 percent, so the rate in September is remarkable from a historical perspective. “