Hawaii jobless rate climbs to 2.8%

Hawaii’s unemployment rate, reflecting slowing growth in the state economy, resumed its upward trend in March and climbed to a 28-month high of 2.8%.

The uptick followed two straight months at 2.7% and pushed the seasonally adjusted jobless rate to its highest level since December 2016, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

A year ago the jobless rate was 2.3%, slightly above its revised all-time low of 2.2% in October and November 2017. The DLIR’s preliminary data last year indicated that Hawaii’s all-time low unemployment rate was 2.0% in April and May, but those numbers were revised upward to 2.3% earlier this year to reflect updated population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. unemployment rate in March held at 3.8 percent.

“The increase in the unemployment rate is as expected and consistent with the economy slowing down,” said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “Economic slowdowns are usually accompanied by lower inflation and lower housing prices. This leads to the opportunities for homebuyers and real estate investors. However, economic slowdowns are also accompanied by a higher unemployment rate and lower income growth. Thus, the overall standard of living will decrease (as measured by per capita gross domestic product).”

Nonfarm payroll jobs, which are calculated from a mail survey of employers, fell by 800 from the previous month to 658,100 but was still the third-highest monthly number in state history. The trade, transportation and utilities category incurred the largest drop with 600 fewer positions. Nonfarm payroll jobs include people who might hold multiple jobs but don’t include people who are self-employed.

The number of people in Hawaii’s labor force, a separate report compiled from a telephone survey of households, fell 2,000 (to 672,750) while those unemployed declined by only 350 (to 18,650).

“This (discrepancy) indicates that (people who held) those lost jobs either moved out of state or gave up looking for jobs again,” Tian said. “The decrease in visitor spending may have contributed to the increase in the unemployment rate. Visitor spending has been decreasing since October.”

The labor force includes those who are employed, those who are unemployed but actively seeking work and those who are self-employed. The number of people employed dropped to 654,100 from 656,450.

The unemployment rate rose in three of the state’s four major 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 increased to 2.7% from 2.6%, Hawaii County’s rate rose to 3.7% from 3.6% and Kauai County’s rate increased to 3.0% from 2.9%. Maui County’s rate fell to 2.8% from 2.9%. Within Maui County, Maui’s rate declined to 2.7% from 2.9% while Lanai’s rate jumped to 2.7% from 0.9% and Molokai’s rate rose to 5.8% from 4.8%.