Hawaii’s labor market continues to hold steady.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 2.7% in October for the third straight month while nonfarm payrolls were virtually flat in falling by just 100 jobs, according to data released Monday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Hawaii, which has the fifth-lowest unemployment rate in the country, has seen its jobless rate barely budge in the last eight months — five months in a row at 2.8% and now three straight months at 2.7%.

The U.S. unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 3.6% in October after hitting a 50-year low of 3.5% in September.

“The labor data indicates that the (Hawaii) labor market continues to be stable with a low unemployment rate and a decrease in initial unemployment claims,” said Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “Our economy will continue to grow at lower pace but stable rate of 1.2%-1.3% for the next few years.”

Nonfarm payroll jobs, which are calculated from a mail survey of employers, fell to 662,000 in October from 662,100 in the previous month. The nonfarm payroll jobs figure includes people who might hold multiple jobs but doesn’t include people who are self-employed.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits decreased in October by 265, or 18%, from the same time a year ago.

Hawaii’s labor force, which includes those who are employed, those who are unemployed but actively seeking work and those who are self- employed, had plunged to its lowest level in nearly six years before advancing in October to snap a streak of nine straight monthly declines. The number of people in the labor force rose to 661,400 from 660,350 in September.

The number of people employed also increased — rising to 643,700 from 642,600 — to end a streak of nine straight declining months.

“It is good to see that both the labor force and employment increased for the first time since the beginning of this year,” Tian said. “It indicates the improvement in the labor market. Since nonfarm payroll jobs decreased by 100, the increase in employment was likely from the self-employment.”

Those unemployed fell to 17,700 from 17,750.

Tian said the three quarter-point interest rate cuts that the Federal Reserve implemented this year mostly will affect investments such as home purchases and construction in Hawaii.

“Since the largest industry in Hawaii is tourism, we will not see the impact of rate cuts in a short term,” he said. “Hawaii’s tourism is soft this year. Through September this year, total visitor spending was still below the level of last year. It is expected that the visitor industry will recover during the next few months, but the economic growth this year and next will remain weaker than the last few years.”

The unemployment rate was mixed in the state’s four major counties. State and national labor force data is adjusted for seasonal factors, but the county jobs data is not seasonally adjusted and thus does not take into account variations such as the winter holiday and summer vacation seasons.

Honolulu County’s rate dropped to 2.4% from 2.6%, and Kauai County’s rate declined to 2.7% from 2.8%. Hawaii County’s rate edged up to 3.6% from 3.5% while Maui County’s rate held at 2.7%. Within Maui County, Maui’s rate held at 2.6%, Molokai’s rate jumped to 6.5% from 5.8% and Lanai’s rate dropped to 1.4% from 1.6%.