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JAMM AQUINO / MARCH 19, 2020
The Unemployment Insurance Claims office in Honolulu is seen at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Hawaii’s unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 6.3% last month compared with 6.6% in September, the state said today.
The drop continued a gradual declining trend since the start of the coronavirus pandemic when large parts of the tourism and hospitality industries shut down. The state’s jobless rate peaked at 23.8% in April 2020.
Hawaii gained jobs in retail and administrative support services during the month, but it lost jobs in accommodations.
The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said 605,950 people were employed in October while 40,850 were unemployed.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 4.6%, down from 4.8%
Hawaii’s unemployment rate is still sharply higher than March 2020, when it stood at 2.1%. The department said non-agricultural jobs are still down 78,300, or 12%, compared with that time.
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