Hawaii’s labor market proved to be resilient in the face of the surging COVID-19 virus as the unemployment rate in July plunged to a 16-month low of 7.3% and nonfarm payroll jobs jumped by 10,200 over the previous month.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined four-tenths of a percentage point from 7.7% in June and has now fallen for six consecutive months, according to data released today by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

As recently as May 2020, the state’s unemployment rate stood at a record 21.9% during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time the jobless rate was lower than 7.3% was in March 2020 when it was at 2.1% during the infancy stages of the pandemic.

Hawaii’s jobless rate, though, still trails the U.S. rate, which fell in July to 5.4% from 5.9%.