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Hawaii unemployment passes 22% in April

Nearly one in four people in Hawaii’s workforce were jobless last month, according to an official state calculation released today.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Hawaii’s unemployment rate in April spiked to 22.3% from 2.4% in March.

April’s rate represents 139,900 unemployed people among the state’s labor force of 627,450.

By island, Maui had the highest unemployment rate at 36.1% followed by Kauai at 34.4% and then Hawaii island at 24.0%.

Honolulu’s rate was 20.0%. The lowest unemployment rates were on Molokai, at 12.0%, and Lanai, at 5.5%.

Rates by island are not adjusted for seasonal changes, unlike the state rate.

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in April was 14.7%, up from 4.4% in March.

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